north vs south civil war

professor every
Question #1

Overall as a country the United States was dependent on their land and agricultural ways after the American Revolution. Roughly thirty years later the war of 1812 developed and soon ended. After the war of 1812 the United States was still a land-recognized nation, but was slowly changing into a manufacturing nation. During the development of the United States turning to manufacturing, the northern and southern states were divided. The northern states were known as the “free states” and the southern states were known as the “slave states.” The division of the northern and southern states led them to develop differently in the years leading up to the Civil war.
Among the United States the north took the first and deepest step into the industrialization era. The north noticed how other countries were changing economically and becoming more modernized. Commerce between the United States and Europe was very popular and that is how the United States acknowledged Europe’s modernized system. The northern states realized the industrial way was very successful. Advances in transportation and communication, the increase in technology for manufacturing, new systems of business organization, and the booming of population growth were the determining factors that directed the United States into the American Industrial Revolution. While there were still farmers living and working in the northern states, they were participating in national and international commerce. The farm areas were becoming more extinct and working factories were becoming more popular. While the north was slowly overlooking the agricultural lifestyle, the advance technology in machinery was helping farmers. The modernized machinery was reducing the time consuming manual labor and the cost of labor on farms. Examples such as steel plows and mechanical reapers were farmers investments to reduced the time and labor required to plant and harvest. The industrialized and modernized procedures the north converted to, was what helped separate them from the south in the farming culture.
With the northern states being the heart and soul of commerce by seawater, many northern investors benefited greatly. The market economy during this manufacturing transformation created a strong and large new middle class. Also, the wealthy investors in the north became wealthier through this market. The north also benefited in sea born trading because of their modernized machinery they produced. The improvements of steam engine ship by the north, allowed them to replace the slow and unreliable sailing ships. The steam engine ships were used in transporting goods for trade from the United States to Europe. The north was producing machinery Europeans didn’t have and exporting them to Europe for commerce.
While the northern states were investing in machinery, the southern states were investing in slaves for their dominant agricultural society. The south was practicing the exhausting way of farming effectively. The south as well as the north experienced dramatic growth in their economy leading up to the civil war. Though the south experienced dramatic growth in their economy during the same years as the north, it was much less of a fundamental change. The South’s agricultural economy was better than ever when the north turned to manufacturing. The landowners were so deeply invested into their land and slaves; they had no other option but to stick with it. The failure to establish a successful industrial economy similar to the north was a result of the more mellow lifestyle southerners lived. The landowners and farmers were the dominant and wealthiest party. The profit the landowners and farmers made nowhere compared to the capitalists in the north. They produced sugar, rice, tobacco, and most importantly cotton for trade.
The production of cotton was what kept the south states strongly involved in commerce and agriculture. The demand for cotton increased rapidly in the years leading up to the civil war. Considering that many other crops being grown in the south, such as tobacco were occupying large amounts of land and exhausting the land; farmers turned to cotton. The production of cotton began to spread rapidly through out the south. The area called the “upper south” began to sell their slaves to the “lower south” where the cotton industry was booming. The lower south drew settlers from all over the United States to participate in the production of cotton. The only problem involved with cotton production in the south was the inadequate transportation for trade.
The work force for both the southern states and the northern states were substantially different and that played a role in the different development. The recruiting of workers for factories at first was difficult for the north. The urban residents around the factories were not interested in working at the factories at first because most owned their own shops. As factories became more popular and successful, they attracted workers from the rural areas of the east who weren’t successful in their farming areas. Also, the Lowell System brought in more workers to the factories. The Lowell System was a process of young farmers daughters working for a few years and then leaving the factories and starting a family with their money they saved from working at the factories. Another work force in the factories was immigrants who were unfamiliar to their new environment in the north. The factory owners took advantage of these immigrants who were mostly Irish and paid them poorly, and made them work long hours in unsanitary working areas. While in the southern states, mainly slaves were working on the farmlands producing the cotton. There were so many slaves working on these farmlands, that the white southerners were scared if the slaves were soon freed they would over power them, steal from them, and murder them.
The development of these separate states were very much different but if one side didn’t have the other, neither would be as successful as they were. The southern states needed the North to help them export their cotton due to their inadequate transportation system. Also, since the south depended so highly on their cotton, much of it was taking up the farmland that once grew food. The cotton being exported from the south was being traded with food and other goods for the south to use to function. The north used the advantage of south not being able to trade with Europe because of the high expense. This allowed the north to use their modernized technology to produce items made by cotton. The south was good customers to the north because of the South’s dependence on the North’s food and manufactured products they produced. The way these two separate economy’s developed differently eventually led them back together because they needed each other to be successful.