Similarities Between The North And South's Economy

Between 1800 and 1850, the North and South had grown distinctively different but they also had some similarities. Some of the differences & similarities between the North and South included the economy, social attitudes & structures, and daily life. The North and the South had differences & similarities with their economies. The North and the South had farmers and everyone including children worked on the family farms. As time went by, the North became more industrialized and manufacturing became the center point of their economy not agriculture. Factories popped up all along the east coast and the inland waterways. As factories, foundries, and mills grew the demand for workers increased. As the word of jobs spread, ships brought European immigrants. The South’s economy was centered around agriculture. Cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar cane, and indigo were sold as cash crops. However, the South’s economy was ingrained on cotton. The economic relationship between the North and South during this time was that the South produced cotton and the North used the cotton to manufacture textiles. As the textile mills in Great Britain and the northern United States thrived, cotton was high in demand. Plantation owners depended on the slaves to pick up the cotton and

In the South, a social hierarchy developed. Wealthy plantation owners were at the top, white subsistence farmers were in the middle, and enslaved black people at the bottom. In the North, there wasn’t a social hierarchy that was developed. The North was generally “Free Soil”, meaning they supported the idea of wage labor versus slavery. The European immigrants that came to the North were able to settle into the cities and start working. Although others made more money than others, the people of the North knew that with hard work they could move up in the economy unlike the people of the