American History And The Civil War Essay

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 name Civil War is misleading because the war was not a class struggle, but a sectional combat, having its roots in political, economic, social, and psychological elements. It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the “irrepressible conflict.” In another judgment the Civil War was viewed as criminally stupid, an unnecessary bloodletting brought on by arrogant extremists and blundering politicians. Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that, rightly or wrongly, had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means.

The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are -- perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

Economy is the third difference. The northern states depended on manufacturing and trade to fuel their economy. The growing season was much shorter than that of the south. As a result, northerners looked to other ways of making money. Many became artisans and tradesmen. The shorter farming seasons also reduced the need for slave labor in the north. In contrast, the south relied primarily on agriculture. While land owners learned what crops to grow the economy in the south continued to be unstable. By the early 1700’s plantation owners began growing various kinds of crops instead of relying solely on tobacco. This helped to stabilize and grow the southern

The first category is geography. In the North, they had warm and sunny summers with brutal winters and hard snowfall. In the spring, they also received little rain. These climate conditions made it hard to farm so they relied on trade and business. In the South, however, they had hot and humid summers and the winters were cold

Around 1820 the North had either banned slavery or began gradual emancipation programs, such as free labor. The states remained agricultural but went through an industrial period. They created a diversified economy as they invested more on cities, factories, and forms of transportation. In contrast, the South invested more in agriculture increasing their reliance of slaves labor. One of the main reasons agriculture rised in the South was due to the expansion of the cotton plantations.

North was mostly family owned small farms while the south had major huge farms. In the south this was their way of life and the way they made profit. The north had many industries and made manufacturing their major profit. While the north seemed to be winning in many categories when it came to agricultural production and cotton the south had them beat.

Prior to the Civil War, starting in the late 18th century, Northern and Southern economies were fairly similar due to them both having to farm as their main career. In the North, however, the entire family would be working on the farms and only producing what was needed for themselves, whereas in the South they utilized slavery as their main resource for labor to produce mass quantities.

Cotton played a huge role in the lives of those living in the South and so they were much more agricultural then those living in the north. The south had the cheapest and best cotton in the world. Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin was supposed to reduce slavery but instead it had the reverse effect because the cotton industry was blowing up. The Southerners had large rich plantations were they grew their cotton and within these plantations they had many slaves working for them. The plantations economy rewarded size and this meant that bigger plantations were given more money than the smaller ones.

In contrast the North and South didn’t have many fundamental differences. They both created a lot of money, and were not lacking at all, the only difference was the method in which was used to make the money. The economic diversification was similar too, as 10% of Northerners owned 68% of the wealth, and the wealth was dominated by the plantation owners, called oligarchies, as there were few free-soilers. 12% of the plantation owners owned half the slaves. This shows that there were few farmers, but the big plantations owned many slaves. Even though the North seems to be more industrial, the South also made efforts to modernise industrially, but they just lacked because of the closed opinions of the southerners. Also not many people in the North and the South owned slaves, it was more of a rare thing, and the main owners, owned a large amount of slaves. However there was a larger need for slaves in the South, because there was cheap labour force from Europe settling in the North which meant slaves were more expensive so were not deemed as important.

Because of the climates and geography in these two regions, they developed different economies. Economy in the North was based on many different industries such as shipping, textile, and mining. Because of coal and waterpower, manufacturing in the North developed quickly. Unlike the North, the South economy was based on agriculture. Crops such as cotton and tobacco made huge profits. Southern farmers had to use large amounts of slave labor for their plantations, so slavery was necessary to the prosperity of the Southern economy.

In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.

In the Civil War the North had many advantages over the South. The South was outnumbered, out supplied, and pushed into a corner using military tactics. Many things changed because of the Civil War. The military tactics used by the North changed how war was fought from then on. Many changes were made politically; some were only temporary, while others were permanent. After the war was over, the country was reunited and the image of the soul and duty of our country redefined.

The north was very urban and industrial while the south remained rural and agricultural. (Goldfield Pg. 391) The north had a big drop in the percentage of agriculture workforce it went from 68 percent to 40 percent, from 1800-1860 which was a significant drop. meanwhile the south had a minor increase from 82 percent to 84 percent. Northerners farm workers during the economic differences period relied a lot on machinery; this allowed the north to have a big increase in manufacturing products this allowed a big increase in industrial production in the North unlike the South who depended a lot on labor intensive agriculture.

The economy of slavery throughout the south solely dependent upon slaves with slaves planting and maintaining cotton, rice, and tobacco. Tobacco was planted and grown in places like South Carolina and Virginia and rice planted and grown in South Carolina and Virginia. With Cotton growth on the rise the demand for slaves would increase. Work would become harder and slaves would work long gruesome hours from sunrise to sunset. Blacks would be punished in forms of beatings if a day’s work was not accomplished. At the time slaves were considered property so if you purchased a slave that was hard worker you benefitted from it. The economy of slavery in the north was more leaned towards industrial work; slaves could work for profit as well as own