The Antebellum period was the time in America starting from the 1800’s to the Civil War. During this time slavery was at an all time high in the South. Many more slaves were traded domestically and internationally with a whole social class revolving around them. In the North, industrialization began and factories were created with a new Northern labor force. Many workers were immigrants or male Americans, but more recently women began to join the workforce. Conditions for both working parties, North and South, were diminishing to say the least. Escaped slaves went to the North and tried to rally people to go against the horrors of slavery and slowly they began to amass a following and eventually lead to the Civil War. The views of the Southern …show more content…
In their eyes, these escapees should have been hunted down and dragged back to the South. Also, they tried to end the major source of economy for the South which they did appreciate. Southerners noticed that abolitionists were a major minority even in the North and capitalized on this. They wrote articles about the “positive good” of slavery and how the North needed it to survive. Some essays even argued that the South could easily function without slavery while the North couldn’t. The South had to attempt to fix this issue or their economy and way of life would drastically changed. Though the South tried and did accomplish some success with this, they were only slowed down the inevitable that the North rallied against slavery and the South. These essays worried many factory owners and factory workers in the North that originally did not have an opinion on the slavery issue. So, Northerners united and went against these outspoken people who were against slavery. These rioters attacked all kinds of abolitionists from escaped slaves to white reverends. One man named Elijah Lovejoy was a reverend from Missouri who was an outspoken abolitionist and in his article about the rioters he …show more content…
The South gained its workforce through the African slave trade and once that ended in 1808 then it was domestic trade along with illegal smuggling. Also, a more gruesome way that slaves were produced was by breeding slaves like cattle. This was a common practice done by plantation owners, such as Mr. Covey, who “boasted that he bought her simply “as a breeder.” The “her” in this quote referred to a female slave that Mr. Covey had recently purchased and it was evident that she could not work to a great extent, so he knew that she would be used for something else, such as a “breeder”. This inhumane action allowed slave owners to keep slaves circulating throughout the South. Without this practice many would have either lost slaves or would have had to import more illegally from Africa. The realm of slavery would continue to grow with this even after the slave trade ended in 1808. Southern elites never hired an immigrant or local American for a job on the farm. All forms of labor were done by the slaves so that they did not have to pay for labor. Interestingly, the North had its own form of slavery called ‘wage slavery’ that was used to amass a large enough workforce to work in the factories. The people who had this job were called ‘slavers’ and one particular slaver for the Lowell factories rode in a “long, low, black’ wagon” that was “paid a dollar a head for all
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,
The North and the South stood as two distinct regions during the antebellum period in America. The North and the South were rapidly diverging in all aspects: cultural, economic, and technological. The Northern industrial sector was modernizing the North, and the economy was starting to become more dependent upon manufacturing. Culturally, the Women's Rights movement was advancing as more and more women fought against the Cult of Domesticity. Women entered the "man's sphere" and began to work in factories. In the South cotton became the cash crop and slavery was an integral part of their economy and culture. The views propounded by Southern elites of their home region and its way of life did not resemble those held by Northern observers of the
In the time just before the Civil War, the United States was one of the most successful nations in the world. The United States had become the world’s leading cotton producing country and had developed industry, which would in the future, surpass that of Great Britain. Also, the United States possessed an advanced railroad and transportation system. However, despite its successes, the United States was becoming increasingly divided. The North and the South had many distinct differences in terms of their social, cultural, and economic characteristics that brought about sectionalism and, eventually, the Civil War.
The Antebellum period of the United States was the pre-civil war era where turmoil was building up across the country. Abolitionists were becoming a main part of the fabric of the political infrastructure. The country becoming more and more divided. There was a dream of what America was supposed to be. The state of the country at this time was far away from what the goal of The United States was supposed to be. Author’s at the time knew this. There was a change in through process amongst authors of the time. There
During the Antebellum period, between 1800 and 1850, the United States went through a number of significant changes. America went through the industrial revolution brining along technological advancements that are still used today. American citizens also started to separate into two groups: for slavery, and against it. And there was the rise of the great market economy. Throughout this period of U.S. history, changes occur that shape the world that Americans live in to this very day.
Women during the Antebellum Period we held to high expectations of how they were to behave. They had virtues that they adhered to. After the war broke out, the lives of women changed, and the roles they played significantly impacted the way women were viewed following the war. The Civil War was the result of decades worth of tensions amongst the northern and southern states that had ultimately ended with a war. The states had been feuding over many issues including expansion, slavery, and state’s rights (History.com Staff “American Civil War History”). The Civil war broke out in 1861 and continued until 1865. Prior to the war women stayed home and kept up things at the house, but after the war broke out, women felt they needed to help the
In the decades leading up to the Civil War, the nation underwent serious national change. This antebellum period saw a rise in reform movements that, while ever present in American society, reached new heights in this time period. The reform efforts from 1825 to 1855 enhanced the democratic ideals enough to established bases for many of the movements that would occur later in American history. To begin, this era was a time of introduction for many new ideas. Ralph Waldo Emerson himself stated that, “ We are to revise the whole of our social structure.”
The Antebellum Period in American History is for the most part thought to be the period before the Civil War and after the War of 1812, although some extend it to every one of the years from the reception of the Constitution in 1789 to the start of the Civil War. It was characterized by the rise of abolition and the gradual polarization of the country between abolitionists and supporters of slavery. The nation 's economy started growing in the North due to the Industrial Revolution, the South 's cotton blast made slave plantations the focal point of the economy. The addition of new region and western development saw the fortification of American independence and of Manifest Destiny, the thought that Americans and the foundations of the U.S. are ethically better and Americans are ethically committed than spread these foundations. From 1800-1860, the separation of the North and South lead to many opposing viewpoints on national issues. By 1860, compromise was considered impossible due to disagreements over handling slavery, sectionalism in the West, and states ' rights.
Prior to the Antebellum Period, the United States began to expand its influence to the Midwest. Although there were conflicts regarding the state of slavery, the expansion of land helped the people of America attain cheaper and larger plots of land out west. Due to the fact that more land was available within the United States, immigrants had the desire to emigrate to America and establish new ways of life. Since both the Irish and the Germans brought their own ideologies with them, conflicts arose with them and the Americans, which made the American’s fear change. Along with immigrants came the European Romantic Movement. This movement emphasized the ideas of man’s perfection and the metaphysical and spiritual side of humans. Although, during the Antebellum Period, the American’s fear of change led to reforms involving the immigration of others and, ultimately, the Second Great Awakening, but the Romantic Movement, brought from Europe by the said immigrants, also led to reforms such as abolitionism and feminism within American society.
The Antebellum period took place from before the civil war until after the war of 1812, although some historians extend the date. This period was characterized by the rise of abolition and how prosperous and diverse the topic of slavery was.In this period, the economies the northern and southern economies were very different with the rise of cotton as a cash crop in the south and the industrial advancement in the north.
During the Antebellum period, the North and South were divided into two sections. The North opposed slavery while the South believed that it ultimately benefitted society, creating conflicting views on many different issues. The issues that were brought about during the antebellum period between the North and the South were centered around what type of societies slavery created. Although the North and South had some similarities during the antebellum period, the North and South were consistently more different in many aspects.
The Abolitionist movement during the Antebellum period, was a critical time in American history. The goal of this movement was to emancipate all slaves immediately, and end discrimination, as well as segregation. The brave men and women involved in this movement were called abolitionists and antislavery advocates. The antislavery advocates stood for freeing slaves gradually, and abolitionists wanted slavery gone immediately. No matter how fast, these people all wanted to spread opposition against slavery across the United States. Northern churches started liking this whole idea of abolishing slavery, which started conflict between the North and South. These arguments led up to the Civil War.
The Antebellum period is known as the period before the Civil War. However, it is described as the periods between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The word e “antebellum,” means before the war, and “reform,” means the improvement of what is wrong. The Antebellum period made transportation more efficient for people who traveled. The Transportation Revolution provided several new, reliable, safe and cost-effective ways to travel to different parts of the nation, including new land in the west. The transportation Revolution changed America by new types of transportation, economic growth, expansion, and the culture in the south.
The Antebellum Era was a time leading to the American Civil War. It was a period in time in which slavery was legal and many people, blacks, and whites alike resisted and rebelled against it. About twenty to forty million people from Africa were lost to slavery (week one lecture). “The slave trade was people living, lying, stealing, murdering, dying. The slave trade was a black man who stepped out of his house for a breath of fresh air and ended up, ten months later, in Georgia with bruises on his back and a brand on his chest. The slave trade was a black mother suffocating her newborn baby because she didn’t want him to grow up a slave.The slave trade was a ‘kind’ captain forcing his suicide-minded passengers to eat by breaking their teeth, though, as he said, he was “naturally compassionate.(week one lecture)” This clearly explains the harshness of slavery and why it is wrong.