Same Country, Different Views During the 1800s, the United States of America was still a developing country. America had just recently gained its freedom from the English crown. The country was still trying to figure itself out and gain a sense of its own definition and independence. The U.S.A. was mainly divided into two different regions at the time. These two regions consisted of the North and the South. These two regions were very different even though they were in the same country. The differences of these two regions were caused by their economic roots and beliefs. The North’s economy was mainly based around the manufacturing industry and trade. On the other hand, the South’s economy was solely based around farming and slavery. Because …show more content…
The slaves were the laborers of the South. They were the ones who were working the tobacco and cotton fields. The slaves were arguably the deciding factor in the South’s cotton boom. Without slavery, the South could have not been nowhere near as prosperous. No slaves would have meant no workers. The cotton fields were not going to produce by themselves. Cotton was the main export of the South. Cotton was the basis of the economy. After the invention of the cotton gin, cotton production skyrocketed allowing a faster turnover time for processing. Because of a faster processing time, more cotton could be grown which would only boost the South’s economy even more. More cotton led to the need of more slaves. Slavery had become so essential that the slaves outnumbered the whites in certain parts of the South. (Tucker, …show more content…
The North’s economy was financially booming because of the industrial output. The North was primarily based on industry because the land was not quite as suitable for farming like the South. Farming did exist in the North. The North was primarily composed of small farms, not plantations. The labor on these farms was carried out by the owners themselves. The farming was not meant to provide major finances for them, it was for their own needs. Northerners practiced subsistence farming. There was not a need for slavery on their farms (Tucker, 2017) In contrast, the crops being grown in the south were not subsidized. They were for the benefit of the economy. These crops such as tobacco and cotton were very labor intensive. However, the South was only able to do so much with these crops. The South was unofficially forced to sell their raw materials to the North. The North would then process the crops received from the South and then they would sell the finished product back at a higher price. (Tucker,