Difference Between North And South Civil War

Rebecca Hartman 7A
Antebellum Essay ++

During the early 1800s, the North and South regions of America began to grow apart. This was known as the Antebellum Era, a period in US history from the early 1800s to 1861, which led up to the Civil War. Two of the main elements that differed significantly between the two regions were economy and society. The differences in economy and society between the North and South were significant, but only one region, either the North or South, was able to have an advantage in the Civil War.
One of the major differences between the North and South was their economy. During the Industrial Revolution, the North and South experienced drastic changes that reconfigured the ways both regions operated

The cotton gin was an invention by Eli Whitney to help clear out seeds from cotton balls. Because of the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became the most important cash crop in the South. Even though this helped the South’s economy, the cotton gin did not help the slaves in the South at all. To clarify, the demand for slaves only grew larger. Because the South decided to focus on agriculture instead of factories, the region got most of its consumer goods from the North. When this happened, the North began to become a more modern society. Because the South was buying almost everything from the North, the North quickly became richer. Soon, everything in the North was changing from manual work, to machinery work. This era is now known as the Industrial Revolution. Hart explains, “During the Industrial Revolution, people shifted from making things and doing work by hand to making things and doing work with machines” (Hart, 322). Not only was the North getting money by selling their own products, the North also turned the South’s cotton into items like cloth, blankets, and clothing which also became a good way to make income. The North was able to get a better income than the South because people in the North manufactured and exported items while the South only produced cotton. According to

Both regions had different points of views on many topics, one being slavery. These points of views affected the North and South greatly. The stances of both regions affected their advantages in the upcoming Civil War, too. Hart states, “Many Southerners in 1860 still measured wealth in terms of land and slaves” (Hart, 328). Slavery was very significant in the South. In other words, a plentiful amount of slaves indicated wealth. Although this was the way to make money, slavery was creating large quarrels in the South. Even though most people were pro-slavery, some people like free-blacks, enslaved people, and some whites were against it. Church leaders defended slavery, which separated them from church owners in the North. Slaves, free blacks, and some whites fought against slavery. But slavery made life hard for many. According to Hart, “Free blacks were often forced to wear special badges, pay extra taxes, and live separately from whites” (328). Blacks were treated differently in the South, which caused a lot of separation between the Southerners. Another difference between the North and South was the way people lived. According to Hart,, “...more and more Northerners were moving to towns and cities. Between 1800 and 1850, the number of cities with populations of at least 2,500 had increased from 33 to 237” (Diane Hart, 329). As the North became more modern, more jobs became available and a larger number