How Is Cotton Able To Industrialize

In contrast to the many economical differences of the industrial north and agrarian south, few similarities arise in the struggle of sectionalism. Both the societies consisted of utilization of trade, westward expansion, and the use of unskilled labor. The north's industrial businesses such as textile industries demanded the south's production of cotton in order to maintain its market with oversees buyers. Also, the fight for westward land was among the many conflicts between the north and the south. And the use of unskilled labor was highly shared between these two economies. In the south, the use of untrained African slaves was its main entity to economic success. Like the south, the north used amateur workers in its industries to boost its production.

The North’s economy was based on textiles, shipping, and skilled trades. Their climate was not suited for the same type of agricultural products that the South produced like cotton, sugar, rice and tobacco. Northern states like New England manufactured and shipped goods like guns, clocks, plows and axes (page 399). One reason for the South’s dependence on slavery is because their economy relied on the existence of slave labor. For example, the cultivation of cotton depended largely on slave labor, with 75% of the crop grown on plantations,

Cities grew and flourished and soon it was apparent that money was needed to support the exploding population. The North supported tariffs, unlike the South. Tariffs are taxes that are placed on imported goods by the government. The North supported any tariffs on imported goods for a few reasons insomuch they did not feel threatened. Industry was running rampant, so finished goods did not have to be brought over from England. There was no more need to import from England. If imports were brought in, they were more of a luxury than a necessity. All necessities were made on Northern soil by their own factories. Another reason that the North favored taxes was because they hoped that with higher import taxes, the South would then purchase goods from Northern factories instead of England. For instance, if the price of a finely woven, imported shirt plus the tariff caused the price to jump too high, Southerners would be forced to buy the shirt from a Northern factory. Railroads were being established mainly between all the major cities of the North. The network of these railroads meant that goods were able to travel faster. This considerably shortened the time from raw goods to finished products. The North’s transition to industry proved to be soundly lucrative. It evolved, expanded and laid a firm foundation for the future.

    In addition to the history of slavery in the U.S. Foner also talks about not only the South 's dependence on slavery, but the North as well. Even though the Northern states abolished slavery, cotton was necessary for making textiles in the industrial factories in the North. As slavery continued so did the need for it, and the economy began to rely on it. It was especially important in the 19th century. Even with the North against slavery, the South kept it, because it was important to make money.

Both areas had many farmers, but the south was successful with big plantations. The southern economy depended on agriculture while the North was based on technological advancement. The North successful developed many industries, while the south improved their farming methods (Roark, 7). The south farmers established huge plantations for cash crop production especially cotton. In addition, slavery became an important factor that provided

The North and South were very different from each other. Industrialization was happening in the North, while large-scale cotton planting was happening in the South. The South sold their crops to England in exchange for inexpensive factory-made goods produced in Europe. As a result of industrialization, Northern Factories began producing many of the goods that were already being produced in Europe. Thus, the North started to tax the South on any goods imported from Europe, so that the South would buy goods from the North. These unfair taxes angered the South, and contributed largely to its anti-North attitude (Civil War

The main difference between the Northern and Southern states was that the North was mostly populated by small farms and larger towns and cities with mercantile and factory-based economies, in contrast the South was populated by large plantations and had relatively fewer large cities and few factories. Since the north had significantly more factories, they tended to trade more manufactured goods instead of raw materials like the south. The south’s economy was heavily reliant on the labor of slaves, the north had slaves as well but it did not really compare to that of the

There were many economic differences between the North and the South that eventually led to the Civil War. One main difference was that The South's economy was based on agriculture and slave labor while the North's economy was more focused on manufacturing. According to Document 1a, “Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project” , it represents that the value of Northern manufacturing surpassed the value of Southern manufacturing. This shows that the Northern states had a very well off economy , which can partly be due to its geography and location along the coast which contributed to major trade. Another reason for the North’s good economy was because unlike the South the industrialized North generated their wealth through innovation

For the most part many historians tend to throw the idea of Southern manufacturing in the backseat since the North had a firm grasp on textile factories. The reason for this view is that many historians appeal to the idea of a Southern economy based on cotton and agriculture. However, this is not the case and many historians have failed to see this critical power move by Southern entrepreneurs. In many instances, business owners from the South would invest in internal improvements of textile mills.

For example, farming was the main source of income for the Confederate states. The main southern chief crop which came to be known as King Cotton, accounted for 57% of all U.S. exports (“Civil War”). However, in order to produce these large amounts of cotton, the southern Confederate states depended heavily on slave labor. Since cotton production began to dominate and fuel the southern economy, the South felt that they did not need to industrialize like their northern neighbors did. This caused the South to manufacture very little goods and caused them to purchase manufactured goods from the industrialized North or to purchase imported goods from overseas.

With its warm climate and fertile soil, the South became an agrarian society, where tobacco, rice, sugar, cotton, wheat, and hemp defined the economy (“Colonial Economy”). Because of a labor shortage, landowners bought African slaves to work their massive plantations. Even small-scale farmers often used slave labor as a means to help increase their production rate ("John C. Calhoun's Defense of Slavery"). After the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, cotton could finally be mass produced (“Slavery”). However, in order to pick all the cotton, slave labor would be needed, thus the reason for hundreds of thousands of imported slaves during the 1700s. In the United States, a stronger case can be made that slavery played a critical role in economic development. Cotton, grown primarily with slave labor, provided over half of all US export earnings. By 1840, the South grew sixty percent of the world's cotton and provided about seventy percent of the cotton consumed by the British textile industry. (“Colonial Economy”). In addition, due to the South specializing in cotton production, the North developed a variety of businesses that provided services for the slave South, including textile factories, a meat processing industry, insurance companies, shippers, and cotton brokers (“Colonial Economy”). By the time the Civil War erupted, 4.9

Although the South produced the huge amounts of cotton needed, and exported it as a primary product to the rest of the world, it did not lead the way in industrialisation-this was dominated by the Northeast. What America lacked was manufacturing efficiency and as the Historian J.G.Rayback explains the war made 'Americans profoundly aware of other areas besides their own; in the post-Revolutionary period they made a vigorous effort to increase their knowledge of the entire nation and to take advantage of its limitless opportunities.'

Factories in the North attracted former subsistence farmers because it was more efficient to buy food rather than to grow it. Systems like the Lowell System employed young women, provided them with room and board, and paid the women for their work in the factory. With the rise of numerous new American inventions, machines became more efficient and the United States had soon developed one of the best industrial economies in the world. Because of the need for effective transportation to distribute goods, new forms of transportation such as elaborate railroad and canal systems emerged. The south, on the other hand, clung to the slave-based plantation system. The economy was based largely on the production of raw materials, mainly cotton. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin allowed the cultivation of short staple cotton to bring Southern planters great success. Because the cotton industry was so lucrative, Southerners had no reason to become industrialized. However, the industrial economy of the North and the agrarian economy of the South led to a colonial relationship between the two, meaning that the South sold raw materials to the North in exchange for manufactured goods. The system put the South in an inferior position to the North, which obviously upset Southerners and led to greater tension between the two regions.

In the North slavery had died out as it did not pay. However, in the South in had begun to prosper greatly. This was due to the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 which allowed large amounts of cotton to be raised using slave labour. The North was in

With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity between the two set up a