The North and the South’s Market Revolution Following the War of 1812 between the United States and England, the old American systems of transportation, communication, and business organization became obsolete, and new changes were necessary for economic growth. The North found a way to exploit the Southern cotton production and slave labor, while remaining unaccountable. The South was fundamentally unchanged and remained a primarily agrarian economy, but the North transformed into a commercial economy. Advances in manufacturing, transportation, communication and management in business organization, and population growth were the results. The divide between the North and the South was engrained. The market revolution developed economic growth …show more content…
The Western lands were much more fertile than the Northeastern farms, and the Northern farms were unable to compete. In order to compensate, Northern farms transformed into cities to house the factories. The South specializing in cotton growing meant the North had to find another way to receive food. With movement West, Americans grew crops, which they then sold to the Northern communities, providing food, and in return the North sold the West manufactured goods. The Southern states were self-sustainable, so they were unaffected by focusing on the cotton industry. Improvements in transportation between the Western lands and the Northern states made the trade possible. The Western farms were creating a major profit, which led the Northern farmers to further build factories, expand their labor force, and rely on the Southern crop production. All three regions proved dependent on one another. The logistics of moving goods from the West to the North improved drastically because of the creation of canals, roadways, and railroads. They allowed shipping to become easier and cheaper. An example of an important canal was the Erie Canal. It was located in New York, and was the first of several canals to link the North and the West. The South had few canals because it was self-sustainable, only needing roadways or steamboats to transport the raw material, cotton. By not improving transportation systems, the South remained isolated, …show more content…
Since more factories were being built in the North, more jobs were becoming available. This migration caused massive population growth. The hourly wage was minimal considering the danger and time commitment the work permitted, but the wage labor was still ideal compared to the slave labor in the South. The wage labor system influenced the emergence of the new Middle Class in the North. The class was comprised of white-collar businessmen and skilled laborers who gained from the economic development and were opened to opportunities to enter professions, work in businesses, and administer organizations. In the 1840s, Ireland suffered from the Potato Famine, and thus a mass amount of Irish citizens immigrated to America and began working in the factories. They replaced native-born workers because immigrants were cheaper and less demanding. In the South, the majority of the labor force remained African-American slaves, but the amount of abolitionists increased substantially. The North and the South differed in their labor force, the Northern industries paying their work force while the Southern plantations enslaved their labor