By 1860, the United States seemed to be divided into two very different cultures — Northern and Southern. Write a five-paragraph essay that explains the differences between the social structure, economy, and political goals of the North and South. Though the U.S. civil war itself spanned only four years, the wide-ranging social, economic, and political differences between the northern and the southern states had existed long before the firing of the first shot at Fort Sumter. In the social sphere, though the North and the South differed on what constituted a “gentleman,” there was no dispute over the man’s role in relation to the woman’s. In the context of economy, southern wealth relied on farming, land, and slaves, while the northerners relied on industrial capital …show more content…
Despite differing cultural norms, the North and the South did share one common view: the role of the man in society and family. In both Northern and Southern cultures, the man was expected to provide for his family and be the head of the household. His spheres included those of politics and work, and the he was expected to keep his family -and his wife- in line. Despite this similarity, the North and the South did differ on the epitomy of the gentleman. In the South, a gentleman was expected to defend his family’s honor using violence. In the North, on the other hand, this show of violence was not expected, nor appreciated. Instead, Northerners felt that a gentleman should be self-made, hardworking, and educated. The North and the South also differed in the factors which controlled their economies. In the South, the two most important commodities were land and slaves. Plantations were a large source of wealth for the southern elite, and slavery was both rampant and lucrative. In the North, on the other hand, slavery was looked down upon, and farming made up a portion of the economy, but nowhere near as much as it did in the South. Instead, the Northern
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,
The North attracted many people for religious reasons and eventually developed a profitable shipbuilding industry based on the natural forests and harbors. More people who were interested in profit inhabited the South. This lead to the importation of a lot of slaves. Women's and slaves rights differed too, the South had fewer women so they were treated better, and the North had fewer slaves so they were not treated as bad. But overall both regions profited and lived happily off their
In short, the South was a polar opposite of the North. They were engrained with a greedy, stubborn and selfish
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
Compare and contrast economic, social, and political developments in the North and South between 1800-1860. How do you account for the divergence between the two sections?
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
Throughout the 19th century, the distinctions between the North and South in the United States were controversial. Prior to the Civil War, the North consisted of business owners and middle-class men. The South consisted of mostly farmers. The North was industrial, using railroads and factories. The South was agricultural, with mostly farms and plantations. The North paid their labor workers. The South used slaves. Not only did their opposing views on slavery and the separation of the two cultures, tensions arose that eventually led to one of the most gruesome wars in history.
Husbands and wives often worked as teams to teach their children crafts so that it could be passed on through the family. The economy of the south was mainly based on agriculture and trade. The slave trade also played an important role in the economy of the southern colonies.
The most important difference between the north and south was the issue of slavery. The South was primarily agricultural, and the southern economy was based upon the existence of large family farms known as
One of the most striking differences between the North and the South was the climate and geography. The North’s climate was full of warm summers and cold winters; the terrain was rocky and hilly, which wasn’t good for farming. But the North did have little farms. Most of the forest was used for shipbuilding, and cities were used for trading centers. The rivers were fast and shallow which made it hard to navigate. Also in the North people used waterpower to run factories, because it was a cheap source of energy. The South was somewhat different; the climate was generally warm and sunny. The summers were long and hot, and the winters were pretty mild. Due to the South’s climate they were able to grow different crops in large amounts, unlike the North. The south had large farms, called plantations. In the South cities developed near rivers, because of rich soil which made it easier for them to farm.
Sectional conflict between the North and South was the very platform of the birth of the Civil War. Slavery was a prominent dispute that played a large role in the differences throughout the U.S. at this time, but there were other causes as well including economic and social differences and the election of Abraham Lincoln. In the midst of various events in the 1850s, it was the southern secession that began the true separation of the Union and the Confederacy, which showed the reality and quickness of the arrival of the Civil War in the United States.
While both the North and the South had stable and confident economic systems, the North was much more industrialized and diversified and with a better transportation system they not only had the ability for mass production but also the means for speedy and
Slavery, in the South and as well in the North, played a huge role of the culture of their societies. The North had a general belief in abolitionism, while the South opposed that idea. All the economic reasons led to the cultural differences. The South viewed slavery as a necessity to their economy. The North believed it was wrong to own a human being. The South contradicted this idea with the North’s use of cheap labor in its factories.
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.
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