Discovering Our Past The American Journey Chapter 1 Summary

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 South merged as two distinct regions because they had various differences. These differences included the geography, economy, societal and transportation systems during Antebellum (pre Civil War). One of the most striking differences between the North and South was the climate and geography. In the North it is warm with humid summers and snowy winters. They have short growing seasons because of the cold weather, making it a struggle to farm.

The North had a strong focus on manufacturing after the start of the Industrial Revolution. The text states, “People left their homes and farms to work in the mills and earn wages. The changes this system brought about were so great that this historic development is known as the Industrial Revolution.” However, the South centered around agriculture and cash crops. The text states, “Both parts of the South were agricultural… the Upper South [produced] tobacco, hemp, wheat, and vegetables.

The North and South differ from each other as one was known for its factories and industries while the other was known

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.

Many men and woman were desperately needed to work on the land. The slave’s owners where white bond servants paying their passage across the ocean from Europe through indentured labor, eased but did not solve any of their problems. Slaves were mainly economical on large farms where they labored intensive cash crops, including tobacco, cotton, rice, sugar, and many other farming products that were able to be traded and exported. By the end of the American Revolution, slavery was finally proven unprofitable in the North, so it started dying out. In the South the institution was becoming less and less useful to farmers as tobacco prices fluctuated and began to drop rapidly. That’s is when the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney, which “created the growth of southern slavery again and was the central place of cotton in the world economy” (class notes). The cotton replaced the tobacco leading to the South’s main cash crop and slavery became profitable again. That made the international slave trade rise. Although, majority of the Southerners did not own any slaves at all. But, by 1860 the South’s abnormality institution was impossible to separate from the regions economy.

The reliance of cotton was a huge deal to the South since it was mainly a single cash crop economy. Without slaves to process the cotton, it would make a loss of money to the landowners. “...slaveholders viewed slaves as property, not as people. (book 387) Because of this, the slaves were not looked at with sympathy, but just as another way to earn money. The North did not rely on slave labor, but had skilled workers who earned money- unlike slaves who had to work without pay.

Meanwhile in the North they were an economy based on agriculture. The North was using raw cotton and turning it into finish goods. This would cause a rift in the economy of the north and the south. This change meant the evolution of the North would bring many different races and classes having to work together to accomplish their new way of life. With the south stuck in their antiquated ways they would fall behind in infrastructure and technology.

Introduction: The North and South emerged as two distinct regions because they had various differences. These differences included the geography, population, economy, and transportation (technology) systems of each region. The North was very distinct from the South for many reasons, but the biggest one was the economy and type of labor used. In the North, everyone was paid to some degree, however, in the South there were many slaves used as labor.

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.

The difference in geography in the North and South, as well as the cultures there, accounted for differences in lifestyle, economics, and religion. The South was closer to the Caribbean and South America, resulting in a sizable slave population there. Enslaved Africans were brought in to farm cotton, rice, and tobacco, all of which took a considerable amount of labor to produce. The close proximity to the equator caused a warmer climate that suited the “cash crops.” The Southern states didn’t emphasize religion as much as the North did.

The Industrial Revolution in the North allowed feelings of differences arise against the agrarian South prior to the Civil War. According to my class lecture, the North shifted from labor based production, such as human, animal, or natural power sources, to machine driven production. They also relied on wage laborers and not slaves. At the same time cotton plantations boomed in production in the Southern states and they continued to use slave labor to harvest the cotton. Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793 contributed in start of the cotton industry that profited both the North and the South. The southern cotton plantations worked with the northern textile manufacturers to make a profitable business. The North was also ahead in the

A second issue that arose and caused a big division in the nation was a result of the economy. The northern states operated off a total different form of economy than the southern states did. The North’s economy was built off industry, particularly the textile mills. “There was no place like it, either in terms of economic organization or urban development, in the South” (Gienapp, 4). While the South’s economy was built off farming. The south needed slaves to help tend the crops specifically the cotton, and with the invention of the cotton gin, the need for slaves greatly expanded.

(“Cotton and African-American Life.”) This allowed cotton to be a very profitable crop because of the efficiency and lack of effort that is needed to grow and harvest it. (“Cotton Gin and Eli Whitney.”) Because of its vast amount of cotton farms, the South became a very large producer and exporter of cotton in the 19th century. Many Southern cities such as New Orleans, Mobile, Charleston, and Galveston became major shipping ports of cotton. (“Cotton and African-American Life.”) They received valuable economic benefits from cotton grown throughout the South. The South did not just benefit from the cotton gin, the North, particularly New England, received a stable supply of raw cotton for its textile factories. (“Cotton Gin and Eli