Northern Economy Vs. Southern Economy

Compare and Contrast North and South As the North and South grew they began taking on two different roles. The North focusing on industry and making materials to use and the South growing crops for them to eat. The different roles played by each region caused the economies to grow and be entirely different from one another. The different economies were just one of many ways the two regions grew apart from one another and focused more on that specific region than the country as a whole. The North and South varied in many different aspects such as transportation. Northerners main sources of transportation were surfaced roads, canals and railroad tracks. The North had over 88,000 miles of roads, more than 3,000 canals and over 30,000 miles of railroad tracks. Southerners main sources of transportation were steamships and railroads. The

The Northern economy was based on many different industries, such as shipping, textiles, lumber, fur and mining. (Mr. Kash). Most people in the north lived on small farms to raise livestock and food to eat. Manufacturing quickly developed with water power and coal from steam plants. The north favored high tariffs to protect its industries from foreign competition. The Southern economy focused on agriculture so towns and cities slowly grew and took form. Cash Crops such as cotton, indigo, tobacco, rice and sugarcane were grown on plantations. The invention of the cotton gin allowed cotton to take over southern economy. The cotton industry developed rapidly and spread all over the south. This industry was so big that cotton exports made ⅔’s american exports. ( Civil War Trust). Slavery was essential for prosperity of southern economy. The south had little manufacturing and hated high tariffs because high tariffs would make overseas buyers not want to buy their stuff and make them increase their tariffs making it more expensive for the south to