Sectional Tension Between The North And South

From colonial times there were differences in geography that gave rise to variations in culture and economy in the United States. Due to the differing characteristics, a sectional economy molded the United States into two distinct regions: the north and the south. The north, a commercial society, which supported industry and commerce while the south, an agrarian civilization, flourished in the production of raw materials with use of slaves. The two economies were both self-supporting and capable to create a stronger, more productive nation. The regional differences sought to build America, in turn threatened to destroy it. Many Historians believe that the Civil War was constructed over the issue of slavery. However, the concerns of states'

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,

On the contrary, the northerners greatly relied on industries rather than agriculture. As a matter of fact, the northerners formed the greatest market for cotton from the south and processed it into the desired final products. Such disparities stirred high levels of disagreements based on economic issues. While the southerners increased their emphasis on an antiquated social order while embracing a plantation system, the northerners saw their societies undergo high levels of evolution based on the fact that they welcomed people from varied cultures and social classes leading to the evolution of city ways of life. Such differences attracted clashes and disagreements, leading to the creation of a fertile ground for the Civil War. This was further intensified by the rise of abolitionism as a movement during this period. This is attributed to the fact that the “abolitionists often proclaimed unwillingness to remain in a union tainted with the sin of slavery. Many white southerners blustered about disunion to induce recalcitrant white northerners to support a slaveholding union”

The North bases its economy on manufacturing, which is a drastic different from the South. According to a document listed as textual evidence, “The northern soil and climate favored smaller farmsteads rather than large plantations. Industry flourished, fueled by more abundant natural resources than in the South, and many large cities were established (New York was the largest city with more than 800,000 inhabitants). By 1860, one quarter of all Northerners lived in urban areas. Between 1800 and 1860, the percentage of laborers working in agricultural pursuits dropped drastically from 70% to only 40%,” (document 4). After the War of 1812, where many had to find their own resources due to the lack of trade, the popularity of industries skyrocketed, creating better jobs than farming for Northerners. When the Industrial Revolution struck, this only caused more industries to be created, creating the economic path that the whole North region would soon follow, leaving behind small-scale farmers. Although terrain and climate helped push manufacturing into the role it now plays, other factors play a part in this, such as the War of 1812’s tariffs and treaties. But, altogether, the original elements to these economic differences were climate and

The Civil war was the most momentous and crucial period of time in the history of America. Not only did this war bring an end to slavery but also paved way for numerous social and political changes. The country had already been torn by the negative trend in race relations and the numerous cases of slave uprisings were taking their toll on the country 's political and social structure. The country was predominately divided up into 3 sections, the North, the South, and the West. Each of these groups had different fundamental interests. The North wanted economies depending on farming, factories and milltowns, while the West relied on expansion and development of land for farming and new towns. The South mainly relied on agriculture like

In the late 1850s, tension between the North and the South were getting extremely high. Tension got so high that several of the southern states were succeeding from the Union. However, there were three major factors that sparked succession from the Union. First was the Dred Scott decision; the second was John Brown’s raid, and the third factor was Abraham Lincoln being elected president of the United States in 1860.

There were many social differences between the North and the South. Southerners were usually rural farmers who took pride in serving their country in the military. The Northerners were urban people for the most part, so they had more railroad, canals, and technology. The Industrial Revolution gave Northern states the development of machinery and capitalism which was responsible for majority of the North’s income. The South, however, didn’t have much machinery because they depended on tobacco which then changed to cotton for most of their income. Their entire way of life was based on forced labor system.

One of these economic differences was how goods were produced. While both the North and South were successful in the production of goods, the North was much more efficient. This was because they used manufacturing industries instead of farms, which were used by the South more. The North depended on the South for farming and the South depended on the North for machinery. For example, in Document 2, Virginian Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams from Massachusetts, a letter stating, “For finer things, we shall depend on your northern manufacturers. Of these companies we have none. We use little machinery.” To clarify, the South had very little machines and companies, therefore, they depended greatly on the North who were very advanced in this technology. Nevertheless, the North also depended greatly on the South, who were almost entirely run on agriculture. The South’s agricultural items were sent to the North to be manufactured. For instance, the South harvested cotton, which was then sent over to the North to be made into textiles. As conflict arose between the North and South, the economy would suffer as they relied so heavily on each other. Likewise, the North and South had different forms of labor. As aforementioned, the North’s economy included a great deal of manufacturing, while the South did not. In the North, for the most part, slavery was abolished. The North relied on free labor, which was the ideology that one could work for payment and that one had the opportunity to raise this wage through hard work. In the South, however, slavery was a key to the economy. At first, the southern slaves had to separate the seeds from cotton fibers by hand, but with Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin, cotton could be separated by the machine. The cotton gin revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process. Now, slaves could process more cotton. However, with more

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.

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

U.S. victory in Mexico and the ensuing 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the United States expanded territory in the southwest. This left the significant question of what was to be done with the new land. Free Soilers and Northern Whigs opposed the expansion of slavery, but the Southerners wanted more states to become slave states in order to further their cause. Eventually, Congress accepted Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850, which stated that California would enter as a free state if Mexico and Utah were carved from the Mexican Cession. Furthermore, this compromise

Slavery was the focal point of the economy in the South, this inthrallment was the fuel for the agricultural South as well as the industrial North. Slaves would work the lands of their masters and bring in the raw materials produced, and these raw materials, commonly tobacco and cotton, would be shipped to the North and Europe. The North used the raw materials for the textile mills from the South because it made more economic sense because it cost less than the raw materials coming from Europe. Both regions became dependent upon each other, "the ruin of thousands and hundreds of thousands in the manufacturing states..." (Doc A) would occur if slavery was prevented from spreading by the Republicans. This claim being that if the North continued its free-soil mentality, it would fail as well due to a lack of raw materials caused by an insufficient amount of land for slaves and plantations; "a blow at slavery ia a blow at commerce and civilization..." (Doc R). The North was strongly tied economically to the products of slavery, the South was immensely impacted by slavery, it was the foundation and

And its abolitionist and free thinking.Meanwhile, the south’s colony is characterized by the controversy of slavery and the cash crops they produced

An increase in nationalism after the War of 1812 reduced sectionalism and helped to further unite the nation. However, divisions over slavery, culture and lifestyles and economic structures caused a dramatic increase in sectionalism. These regional difference primarily formed between the northern and southern regions of the country. Therefore, regional differences significantly increased in the United States between 1800 and 1848.

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