Based on the readings for Weeks 2 and 3, answer the
following question: to what extent were the North and South different societies? Consider perceptions at
the time, and the views of historians since.
The huge differences between the north and the south made it diffuclt to contend that America was indeed a united nation at this time. The south was a slave state where the ability for wealthy plantation owners to extort manual labour from slavery underpinned all economic aspects of society. Whereas, the North was a fluid society, open to new ideas and influences. It was exposed to the full raft of benefits that the industrial revolution brought allowing for trade and movement across the north. Therefore, as a society not reliant on slaves, they were able to see the moral implications of slavery. Morevover, many northerners began to view slavery as an affront to the ideals of universal democracy that they aspired to.
While it is true that the North and South shared many common similarities, namely that of a shared history, language and up until the Second Great Awakening in the North, a shared Protestant religion, one cannot ignore the schism dividing the two societies. The existence of slavery in the Southern States, which was fundamental to success of their society, was the major difference between the North and South. While the Northern States became more urbanized through the industrial revolution which paved the way for improved trading, immigration from Europe, performance culture and economic boom, the South remained stagnant, unable or unwilling to develop in the way the North had because of the comfortable and profitable life the slavery system had created.
While the Northern and Southern states shared a common history, background, culture and religion, as the 19th Century progressed, there emerged growing socio-cultural divisions that ultimately made them very different societies. While the Southern states were in fact ‘slave states’, whose commerce and cultural relations revolved around the existence of slaves, the Northern states were becoming increasingly industrialized and innovative. Moving away from an agricultural, barter system of economics, the Northern states became manufacturers and began rapidly investing in technology, innovation and education. Through the development of railroads, canals and other modes of transportation, the Northern states became urbanized and experienced high levels of immigration both internal and external in origin. Communities became more connected and traditional gender roles and statuses were challenged. There was a religious revival known as ‘The Second Great Awakening’, as civilians were positively motivated by the economic changes and religions transformed to reflect the cultural and social changes. They no longer accepted slavery and believed it was their duty to challenge its tenacity in the Southern states. There emerged a greater distinction of private and public spheres, and a sense of cosmopolitanism and progression. Alternatively, the Southern states were hostile to change and continued to be perceived as backward and ill-educated. Their lives, communities and economy were stagnant and continued to be dominated by agriculture and the slave trade. They reinvested in slaves rather than technology and innovation and were able to use religion to justify their way of life. Unlike women in the North who sought to expose virtue and were relegated to domestic duties, women of the South were keen participants in social and economic life. Ultimately, the states were following different trajectories. While the North was embracing change and evolving into a modern, industrialized state, the South was grounded by tradition and their resolve to maintain the slave state.
The economics and social structures of the North and South differed greatly in the nineteenth century. The South had a social structure based on slave ownership, a hierarchy dependant on the amount of human property owned. In contrast, the North that also had a capitalist hierarchy based it on assets, with human property not considered legal or moral. The Southern economy was based on the initial outlay of plantation owners being the basis for continuing profit, whereas the employers in the North paid wages for their employees work, arguing that this produced a more efficient structure.
Despite the North and Souths shared history, the nineteenth century brought about an abundance in changes for the contrasting societies. While the North moved forward economically, the South remained loyal to its agricultural heritage, the elite using and abusing slaves as it always had in order to better there own lives. Their mistreatment of the slaves brought them into a slave society rather than a society with slaves. This was the most obvious difference in the North and South; the South and its economic prosperity could not survive without slaves while the North moved further from the idea of others doing work for them. The North prospered in manufacturing in this era, spurred on by religious ideals of salvation for their entire country. They shaped their future in the rise and development of modern corporations, gender roles, immigration, religion, transportation and communication. Both societies were aware of their differences and believed in the success of their own, thus leading to the outbreak of the American Civil War.
With a view to both primary sources and relevant historical reflections, overwhelming evidence suggests that the structure, functions and features of Northern and Southern societies were inherently contrasting in nature. A dependence on the value and productivity of the slave trade, a primarily agricultural economy, significantly lower levels of urbanisation and differing rates of education and literacy separated the South from it's Civil War counterpart. Furthermore, the North’s perspective of itself as a progressive, industrialised region simply served to magnify the vast ideological expanse that existed between it and the cotton-based, profit-driven, heavily slave inhabited areas of America’s South. The rural, occupationally restricted approach of Southern plantation owners, and subsequently high percentage of slaves as a proportion of the population also played an instrumental role the divergent social and cultural environments of the Civil War era.
The North and South shared a number of things in common, the most prominent of these being their joint history, however the divide between the two societies developed increasingly through the 19th century. One can look at the differences from an economic point of view. The north was growing industrially with large-scale manufacturing of goods and innovations were being made in technology. Trade was growing rapidly through the use of railroads and canal systems. These changes in the economic sphere resulted in changes in the social and cultural sphere within the North. The makeup of families and gender roles were changing with men earning a wage away from the family home and women being left to run the household. These developments and changes were vastly different to that of the South. The South was a slave society which generated large profits from cotton plantations owned by wealthy white families who utilized their large slave workforces to work the plantations. Unlike the north, the South only re-invested their profits in slaves, rather than technologies to reduce the workload that the slaves were forced to endure. The South appeared to be rather backward and unprogressive when compared to the North.
While the two shared distinct similarities, the Northern and Southern states of America possessed inherent differences throughout the 19th Century which ultimately led to Civil War. Throughout the early 19th Century, the Northern states began an industrialisation and gradual urbanisation, coupled with large infrastructure and governmental project build up. The North’s implementation of a Capitalist, asset-owned based economic system further typified its social and economic changes and progress to what it is today. The Southern states in contrast remained a largely agriculturally based economy and social system, using communal based trade markets and routes as a stimulant of economic growth. The use of such a system contrasts with that of the North which had established national trade routes. The use of a slave system in the South further typified its economic and social characteristics, coming into direct contrast with the democratic values imposed by the Union, which insisted upon personal freedoms and amelioration of its citizens and society. The concept of slavery acted as a pillar of difference between the two.
The North and South shared a common history and culture until the 19th century, when the Second Great Awakening and industrial progression caused a shift in the collective conscious of the North. The economical differences between the two regions became pronounced during this period, due to the changes in the production processes found in the North. The North became an industrialised society, investing returns on furthering infrastructure and manufacturing innovations, where the South remained a predominately agricultural economy relying on human labour. The slave system was integral to production in the South- rather than investing returns in industrial progression, many plantation owners used profits to purchase more slaves, a choice that ultimately left the economy of the South foundering where the economic strength of the North only grew. A social divide also opened between the North and South due to the changes occuring in the North during the 19th century. The market revolution allowed men to leave the family home to work professional jobs rather than agricultural jobs, placing greater responsibility on the women of the North to maintain the family home and ensure the educational and social progression of the children. In contrast, the economic power of the South remained largely labour-driven, preventing families from engaging in the educational and social pursuits open to their Northern counterparts. The barter economy of the South promoted insulation rather than diversification, meaning trade practices were predominately local affairs as opposed to the national trade routes beginning to form in the North and promoting both economical and cultural diversification amongst the Northern states.
The North and the South shared many things, such as language, religion, and much of their history. In spite of this, there are factors which have led many to consider them to be different societies. Many of the ideas and institutions in the South were built on the foundation of slavery, and their economy was heavily reliant on slaves both as a source of cheap labour and as assets. The North did not share in this, preferring the use of paid labourers, and this led to great differences which have led some historians to consider them to be different societies.
Although the North and South were societies based on the same history and culture, they are, to a great extent, considered as two separate societies. These differences lie in fundamental beliefs regarding the treatment of humans as slaves; however they extend to encompass the way each society thrives. The South regarded their treatment of African Americans as completely justified; their reputation as generous and welcoming gentlemen would not be possible without free labour. Indeed, as a slave society, the South would have entirely collapsed without this source of manual labour, as they had not industrialised like the North. Northerners in turn viewed themselves as a progressive, cultured society, with great cities and leaps of innovation distinguishing them from the backwards South. Today historians may argue that while these societies refused to acknowledge any likeness between them, one similarity lay in the fact that while the North advocated freedom for slaves, the majority still did not believe in equality between races.
The North and the South were similar in many fundamental aspects of their societies, particularly in language, religion and for the most part, history. However, throughout the 19th Century, a schism was clearly evident. The North had undergone a period of industrialisation that allowed further investment in industrialisation, urbanisation and technological advancement. On the other hand, the South had remained an agrarian society, relying on slavery to sustain their economy. While racial equality was not yet realised, the North had become a more democratic, advanced society as compared to the stagnant South.
The north and south were, though they shared similar customs and laws, a society divided. The basis to which the South and North developed and underwent economic change and growth set the two societies on a separate path. The development of the North as separate to the south resulted from its societal changes; immigration, free labour, religious developments (‘The Second Great Awakening’) and the ideal of the democratic society. With these changes emerged the fundamental differences as the North, unlike the South, did not rely upon slave labour as a means of economic success, nor did they view this as a democratic conception. The North also underwent a change in family life; northern families became distinguished between the private and public spheres while family life in the south and work remained linked. The South was reliant on their means of achieving what they deemed ‘economic superiority’ while the Northern society was that of constant growth/expansion and the South was ultimately residual – maintaining its southern ideals, beliefs and economic assurance via slave labour. The new industrialized world of the northern states was severely different to the old and far less progressive world of the southern states ultimately making them two different societies.
Examining the North and the South raises an interesting question; how far apart can two regions grow before they become definably separate culturally and socially? The North and the South had both started together and both had the same language, history, religion, culture and government. The difference in the end came down to slavery. Where the North underwent industrialisation and the Market Revolution, the South looked to their slaves as the basis of their agricultural society. The North developed their territories and cities with public buildings and canals and underwent more turbulent times as they addressed issues brought in by an increasing amount of immigrants who chose the North over the South due to the work available. The South remained fairly aristocratic with the power and wealth held in the hands of the elite plantation owners who clung to their conservative ideals. With the occurrence of the Second Great Awakening in the North, the religious ties were also severed and the attempt to secede finally aimed to cut the government ties as well.
By the mid-19th century many people in the North and South now saw their societies as having substantial differences. Public figures commonly engaged in debates around topics such as the different ‘character’ of the regions. Even conceptions that were once part of a shared history such as ideas of liberty and equality had diverged. Many Northerners viewed the system of slavery as being incompatible with liberty since it deprived an entire class of people from any fundamental freedoms. Meanwhile, many Southerners believed liberty required slavery, since it guaranteed a level of economic independence and equality that was a prerequisite for political liberty amongst whites. This divide was also beyond just their value systems and extended into the basic economic structure of the regions. The South relied upon slave labour to mass-produce cash crops such as cotton and was still overwhelmingly agrarian. In contrast, the North had experienced a market revolution and was beginning industrialisation that saw the focus of economic production shift from the family unit into new forms of organisation around corporations.
The Northern and Southern United states shared a common history that stretched back many, many years. Both had fought as one to attain independence from the British Empire, and had stood as one to take on the mantle of liberty. Furthermore they were joined with a common language, and a single dominant religious system. These facts mean that the Northern Union and Southern Confederacy were very similar to one another. However, they were at the same time fundamentally different. Economically the South stood upon an agrarian system. That is to say that a vast majority of their wealth and economy were dependant on farming and plantations, both of which were primarily worked by slave labour.This dependence on slave labour facilitated a self sustaining system in which all profits made from the labour of slaves were sunk back into the purchasing of more slaves. The North on the other hand were very industrialised, had outlawed slavery on a constitutional level, and utilised a paid labour farming force. Their industrial nature allowed them to utilise mass production techniques, and to gain rapid profit from their work, profit which was primarily utilised to further develop their society. Due to their industrialised nature, the North also underwent a change in canonist beliefs. The church evolved with the state, advanced forward, and as such was at odds with the church system of the South. The South maintained a policy of religious conservatism, and disallowed any change in their beliefs. Lastly, and perhaps the most drastic division between the two regions was their respective cultures. The North saw themselves as very progressive (hence the industrialisation) and constantly working to further society as a whole.They advocated the separation of place of work from place of living, and the emancipation of slaves. The South, however, were very conservative, and saw themselves a refined 'gentlemen', a belief that would have been threatened by the progressive culture of the North. Furthermore, the outlawing of slavery in the South would have caused the entire basis of Southern economy to collapse and disappear. This large conflict of economics and culture caused tension between the two societies, and lead to the outbreak of the American Civil War of 1816.
The North and South in many aspects were very similar, although as time progressed their differences expanded. Social and lifestyle changes began to appear under the new economic shift of the North. These changes subsequently created a divide between the two cultures. The North’s advancing economic situation greatly over shadowed the South’s agricultural, slave dependent society. The North was beginning to be seen as a representation of a modern and industrialised America. As the North were advancing with industrialisation, the South were falling behind with its old fashioned mentality of slave dependency. Moral differences both constitutional and religious, further exposed the social separation of the Union and furthermore, the establishment of a mental perception of the separation of Northern and Southern states.
North and South were indeed two very different societies.Though the Northern and Southern states had the same religion, they used it for their own purposes. The south used it to justify the 'keeping of bondmen and women'as slaves. As a result, in part because of the religious "Second Great Awakening", the Northern States condemned slavery with abolitionists going further to claim that Negros should have "equal rights" along side white society. The South was essentially an agricultural/slave state, where its social and economic sphere functioned and relied upon the work and trade of slaves. It gave many southern slave owners large profits for their cotton crops. The North,however, had modernised through the market revolution and its focus was now on industrialisation, creating large corporations bringing much wealth and prosperity to the northern states, independent of slavery.
The North and the South were very different societies at the time of the Civil War. This is due to the South being a slave economy, while slavery was abandoned in the North. A repercussion for the North was finding innovative ways to make labour and production easier, which led to industrialisation. This was followed by a growing market economy and the development of international trade. The North, particularly with these achievements and the fact that the South relied on slaves, considered themselves a higher society. Women began to stay in the home more and take on an angelic, virtuous image; and the North reached a level of sophistication were they had "little time and even less tolerance for idleness or boisterous forms of public entertainment" (Half Slave and Half Free, p.77, week three readings). The North, as well as historians, depicts the North as vastly different from the South: Frederick Law Olmstead wrote in 1854 that "the South endeavours to close its eyes to every evil the removal of which will require self-denial, labour and skill". Accounts of Southerners however, seem not to hold themselves too far apart from the North, but as equals as they attempt to crush the North's generalisations of them. George Fitzhugh wrote in 1854 that "money is, with few exceptions, the only thing that ennobles at the North" while "it is a distinction to be a Southerner as it was once to be a Roman citizen".
In terms of their similarities, there seemed few. They shared a history, to some extent a religion, and hatred of “inferiors (negroes)” Perman, 1998:3. However, it seems their differences in this antebellum period far outweighed any similarities. One example is in the economy. The South was a slave society. Slaves manufactured cotton; cotton, economic power; economic power, political power. To progress required abolishing slavery, and abolition the unraveling of their economy. While they relied on agriculture, the North focused on individual innovation; namely the ‘market revolution’, which initiated banks, transport and trade, and corporations; leading to reinvestment and distribution of wealth, and a healthy, vibrant economy – as far as it could be. This also meant that while the South was still largely socially hierarchical, the North began (stress, 'began'!) to build a large, equal working-class with rights, liberty and justice...
The huge differences between the north and the south made it diffuclt to contend that America was indeed a united nation at this time.
ReplyDeleteThe south was a slave state where the ability for wealthy plantation owners to extort manual labour from slavery underpinned all economic aspects of society.
Whereas, the North was a fluid society, open to new ideas and influences. It was exposed to the full raft of benefits that the industrial revolution brought allowing for trade and movement across the north. Therefore, as a society not reliant on slaves, they were able to see the moral implications of slavery. Morevover, many northerners began to view slavery as an affront to the ideals of universal democracy that they aspired to.
While it is true that the North and South shared many common similarities, namely that of a shared history, language and up until the Second Great Awakening in the North, a shared Protestant religion, one cannot ignore the schism dividing the two societies.
ReplyDeleteThe existence of slavery in the Southern States, which was fundamental to success of their society, was the major difference between the North and South. While the Northern States became more urbanized through the industrial revolution which paved the way for improved trading, immigration from Europe, performance culture and economic boom, the South remained stagnant, unable or unwilling to develop in the way the North had because of the comfortable and profitable life the slavery system had created.
While the Northern and Southern states shared a common history, background, culture and religion, as the 19th Century progressed, there emerged growing socio-cultural divisions that ultimately made them very different societies. While the Southern states were in fact ‘slave states’, whose commerce and cultural relations revolved around the existence of slaves, the Northern states were becoming increasingly industrialized and innovative. Moving away from an agricultural, barter system of economics, the Northern states became manufacturers and began rapidly investing in technology, innovation and education. Through the development of railroads, canals and other modes of transportation, the Northern states became urbanized and experienced high levels of immigration both internal and external in origin. Communities became more connected and traditional gender roles and statuses were challenged. There was a religious revival known as ‘The Second Great Awakening’, as civilians were positively motivated by the economic changes and religions transformed to reflect the cultural and social changes. They no longer accepted slavery and believed it was their duty to challenge its tenacity in the Southern states. There emerged a greater distinction of private and public spheres, and a sense of cosmopolitanism and progression. Alternatively, the Southern states were hostile to change and continued to be perceived as backward and ill-educated. Their lives, communities and economy were stagnant and continued to be dominated by agriculture and the slave trade. They reinvested in slaves rather than technology and innovation and were able to use religion to justify their way of life. Unlike women in the North who sought to expose virtue and were relegated to domestic duties, women of the South were keen participants in social and economic life. Ultimately, the states were following different trajectories. While the North was embracing change and evolving into a modern, industrialized state, the South was grounded by tradition and their resolve to maintain the slave state.
ReplyDeleteThe economics and social structures of the North and South differed greatly in the nineteenth century. The South had a social structure based on slave ownership, a hierarchy dependant on the amount of human property owned. In contrast, the North that also had a capitalist hierarchy based it on assets, with human property not considered legal or moral. The Southern economy was based on the initial outlay of plantation owners being the basis for continuing profit, whereas the employers in the North paid wages for their employees work, arguing that this produced a more efficient structure.
ReplyDeleteDespite the North and Souths shared history, the nineteenth century brought about an abundance in changes for the contrasting societies.
ReplyDeleteWhile the North moved forward economically, the South remained loyal to its agricultural heritage, the elite using and abusing slaves as it always had in order to better there own lives. Their mistreatment of the slaves brought them into a slave society rather than a society with slaves. This was the most obvious difference in the North and South; the South and its economic prosperity could not survive without slaves while the North moved further from the idea of others doing work for them. The North prospered in manufacturing in this era, spurred on by religious ideals of salvation for their entire country. They shaped their future in the rise and development of modern corporations, gender roles, immigration, religion, transportation and communication.
Both societies were aware of their differences and believed in the success of their own, thus leading to the outbreak of the American Civil War.
With a view to both primary sources and relevant historical reflections, overwhelming evidence suggests that the structure, functions and features of Northern and Southern societies were inherently contrasting in nature. A dependence on the value and productivity of the slave trade, a primarily agricultural economy, significantly lower levels of urbanisation and differing rates of education and literacy separated the South from it's Civil War counterpart. Furthermore, the North’s perspective of itself as a progressive, industrialised region simply served to magnify the vast ideological expanse that existed between it and the cotton-based, profit-driven, heavily slave inhabited areas of America’s South. The rural, occupationally restricted approach of Southern plantation owners, and subsequently high percentage of slaves as a proportion of the population also played an instrumental role the divergent social and cultural environments of the Civil War era.
ReplyDeleteThe North and South shared a number of things in common, the most prominent of these being their joint history, however the divide between the two societies developed increasingly through the 19th century. One can look at the differences from an economic point of view. The north was growing industrially with large-scale manufacturing of goods and innovations were being made in technology. Trade was growing rapidly through the use of railroads and canal systems. These changes in the economic sphere resulted in changes in the social and cultural sphere within the North. The makeup of families and gender roles were changing with men earning a wage away from the family home and women being left to run the household. These developments and changes were vastly different to that of the South. The South was a slave society which generated large profits from cotton plantations owned by wealthy white families who utilized their large slave workforces to work the plantations. Unlike the north, the South only re-invested their profits in slaves, rather than technologies to reduce the workload that the slaves were forced to endure. The South appeared to be rather backward and unprogressive when compared to the North.
ReplyDeleteWhile the two shared distinct similarities, the Northern and Southern states of America possessed inherent differences throughout the 19th Century which ultimately led to Civil War. Throughout the early 19th Century, the Northern states began an industrialisation and gradual urbanisation, coupled with large infrastructure and governmental project build up. The North’s implementation of a Capitalist, asset-owned based economic system further typified its social and economic changes and progress to what it is today.
ReplyDeleteThe Southern states in contrast remained a largely agriculturally based economy and social system, using communal based trade markets and routes as a stimulant of economic growth. The use of such a system contrasts with that of the North which had established national trade routes. The use of a slave system in the South further typified its economic and social characteristics, coming into direct contrast with the democratic values imposed by the Union, which insisted upon personal freedoms and amelioration of its citizens and society. The concept of slavery acted as a pillar of difference between the two.
The North and South shared a common history and culture until the 19th century, when the Second Great Awakening and industrial progression caused a shift in the collective conscious of the North.
ReplyDeleteThe economical differences between the two regions became pronounced during this period, due to the changes in the production processes found in the North. The North became an industrialised society, investing returns on furthering infrastructure and manufacturing innovations, where the South remained a predominately agricultural economy relying on human labour. The slave system was integral to production in the South- rather than investing returns in industrial progression, many plantation owners used profits to purchase more slaves, a choice that ultimately left the economy of the South foundering where the economic strength of the North only grew.
A social divide also opened between the North and South due to the changes occuring in the North during the 19th century. The market revolution allowed men to leave the family home to work professional jobs rather than agricultural jobs, placing greater responsibility on the women of the North to maintain the family home and ensure the educational and social progression of the children. In contrast, the economic power of the South remained largely labour-driven, preventing families from engaging in the educational and social pursuits open to their Northern counterparts. The barter economy of the South promoted insulation rather than diversification, meaning trade practices were predominately local affairs as opposed to the national trade routes beginning to form in the North and promoting both economical and cultural diversification amongst the Northern states.
The North and the South shared many things, such as language, religion, and much of their history. In spite of this, there are factors which have led many to consider them to be different societies. Many of the ideas and institutions in the South were built on the foundation of slavery, and their economy was heavily reliant on slaves both as a source of cheap labour and as assets. The North did not share in this, preferring the use of paid labourers, and this led to great differences which have led some historians to consider them to be different societies.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the North and South were societies based on the same history and culture, they are, to a great extent, considered as two separate societies. These differences lie in fundamental beliefs regarding the treatment of humans as slaves; however they extend to encompass the way each society thrives. The South regarded their treatment of African Americans as completely justified; their reputation as generous and welcoming gentlemen would not be possible without free labour. Indeed, as a slave society, the South would have entirely collapsed without this source of manual labour, as they had not industrialised like the North. Northerners in turn viewed themselves as a progressive, cultured society, with great cities and leaps of innovation distinguishing them from the backwards South. Today historians may argue that while these societies refused to acknowledge any likeness between them, one similarity lay in the fact that while the North advocated freedom for slaves, the majority still did not believe in equality between races.
ReplyDeleteThe North and the South were similar in many fundamental aspects of their societies, particularly in language, religion and for the most part, history. However, throughout the 19th Century, a schism was clearly evident. The North had undergone a period of industrialisation that allowed further investment in industrialisation, urbanisation and technological advancement. On the other hand, the South had remained an agrarian society, relying on slavery to sustain their economy. While racial equality was not yet realised, the North had become a more democratic, advanced society as compared to the stagnant South.
ReplyDeleteThe north and south were, though they shared similar customs and laws, a society divided. The basis to which the South and North developed and underwent economic change and growth set the two societies on a separate path. The development of the North as separate to the south resulted from its societal changes; immigration, free labour, religious developments (‘The Second Great Awakening’) and the ideal of the democratic society. With these changes emerged the fundamental differences as the North, unlike the South, did not rely upon slave labour as a means of economic success, nor did they view this as a democratic conception. The North also underwent a change in family life; northern families became distinguished between the private and public spheres while family life in the south and work remained linked. The South was reliant on their means of achieving what they deemed ‘economic superiority’ while the Northern society was that of constant growth/expansion and the South was ultimately residual – maintaining its southern ideals, beliefs and economic assurance via slave labour. The new industrialized world of the northern states was severely different to the old and far less progressive world of the southern states ultimately making them two different societies.
ReplyDeleteExamining the North and the South raises an interesting question; how far apart can two regions grow before they become definably separate culturally and socially? The North and the South had both started together and both had the same language, history, religion, culture and government. The difference in the end came down to slavery. Where the North underwent industrialisation and the Market Revolution, the South looked to their slaves as the basis of their agricultural society. The North developed their territories and cities with public buildings and canals and underwent more turbulent times as they addressed issues brought in by an increasing amount of immigrants who chose the North over the South due to the work available. The South remained fairly aristocratic with the power and wealth held in the hands of the elite plantation owners who clung to their conservative ideals. With the occurrence of the Second Great Awakening in the North, the religious ties were also severed and the attempt to secede finally aimed to cut the government ties as well.
ReplyDeleteBy the mid-19th century many people in the North and South now saw their societies as having substantial differences. Public figures commonly engaged in debates around topics such as the different ‘character’ of the regions. Even conceptions that were once part of a shared history such as ideas of liberty and equality had diverged. Many Northerners viewed the system of slavery as being incompatible with liberty since it deprived an entire class of people from any fundamental freedoms. Meanwhile, many Southerners believed liberty required slavery, since it guaranteed a level of economic independence and equality that was a prerequisite for political liberty amongst whites.
ReplyDeleteThis divide was also beyond just their value systems and extended into the basic economic structure of the regions. The South relied upon slave labour to mass-produce cash crops such as cotton and was still overwhelmingly agrarian. In contrast, the North had experienced a market revolution and was beginning industrialisation that saw the focus of economic production shift from the family unit into new forms of organisation around corporations.
The Northern and Southern United states shared a common history that stretched back many, many years. Both had fought as one to attain independence from the British Empire, and had stood as one to take on the mantle of liberty. Furthermore they were joined with a common language, and a single dominant religious system. These facts mean that the Northern Union and Southern Confederacy were very similar to one another. However, they were at the same time fundamentally different.
ReplyDeleteEconomically the South stood upon an agrarian system. That is to say that a vast majority of their wealth and economy were dependant on farming and plantations, both of which were primarily worked by slave labour.This dependence on slave labour facilitated a self sustaining system in which all profits made from the labour of slaves were sunk back into the purchasing of more slaves. The North on the other hand were very industrialised, had outlawed slavery on a constitutional level, and utilised a paid labour farming force. Their industrial nature allowed them to utilise mass production techniques, and to gain rapid profit from their work, profit which was primarily utilised to further develop their society.
Due to their industrialised nature, the North also underwent a change in canonist beliefs. The church evolved with the state, advanced forward, and as such was at odds with the church system of the South. The South maintained a policy of religious conservatism, and disallowed any change in their beliefs.
Lastly, and perhaps the most drastic division between the two regions was their respective cultures.
The North saw themselves as very progressive (hence the industrialisation) and constantly working to further society as a whole.They advocated the separation of place of work from place of living, and the emancipation of slaves. The South, however, were very conservative, and saw themselves a refined 'gentlemen', a belief that would have been threatened by the progressive culture of the North. Furthermore, the outlawing of slavery in the South would have caused the entire basis of Southern economy to collapse and disappear. This large conflict of economics and culture caused tension between the two societies, and lead to the outbreak of the American Civil War of 1816.
The North and South in many aspects were very similar, although as time progressed their differences expanded. Social and lifestyle changes began to appear under the new economic shift of the North. These changes subsequently created a divide between the two cultures. The North’s advancing economic situation greatly over shadowed the South’s agricultural, slave dependent society. The North was beginning to be seen as a representation of a modern and industrialised America. As the North were advancing with industrialisation, the South were falling behind with its old fashioned mentality of slave dependency. Moral differences both constitutional and religious, further exposed the social separation of the Union and furthermore, the establishment of a mental perception of the separation of Northern and Southern states.
ReplyDeleteNorth and South were indeed two very different societies.Though the Northern and Southern states had the same religion, they used it for their own purposes. The south used it to justify the 'keeping of bondmen and women'as slaves. As a result, in part because of the religious "Second Great Awakening", the Northern States condemned slavery with abolitionists going further to claim that Negros should have "equal rights" along side white society. The South was essentially an agricultural/slave state, where its social and economic sphere functioned and relied upon the work and trade of slaves. It gave many southern slave owners large profits for their cotton crops. The North,however, had modernised through the market revolution and its focus was now on industrialisation, creating large corporations bringing much wealth and prosperity to the northern states, independent of slavery.
ReplyDeleteThe North and the South were very different societies at the time of the Civil War. This is due to the South being a slave economy, while slavery was abandoned in the North. A repercussion for the North was finding innovative ways to make labour and production easier, which led to industrialisation. This was followed by a growing market economy and the development of international trade. The North, particularly with these achievements and the fact that the South relied on slaves, considered themselves a higher society. Women began to stay in the home more and take on an angelic, virtuous image; and the North reached a level of sophistication were they had "little time and even less tolerance for idleness or boisterous forms of public entertainment" (Half Slave and Half Free, p.77, week three readings). The North, as well as historians, depicts the North as vastly different from the South: Frederick Law Olmstead wrote in 1854 that "the South endeavours to close its eyes to every evil the removal of which will require self-denial, labour and skill". Accounts of Southerners however, seem not to hold themselves too far apart from the North, but as equals as they attempt to crush the North's generalisations of them. George Fitzhugh wrote in 1854 that "money is, with few exceptions, the only thing that ennobles at the North" while "it is a distinction to be a Southerner as it was once to be a Roman citizen".
ReplyDeleteIn terms of their similarities, there seemed few. They shared a history, to some extent a religion, and hatred of “inferiors (negroes)” Perman, 1998:3. However, it seems their differences in this antebellum period far outweighed any similarities.
ReplyDeleteOne example is in the economy. The South was a slave society. Slaves manufactured cotton; cotton, economic power; economic power, political power. To progress required abolishing slavery, and abolition the unraveling of their economy. While they relied on agriculture, the North focused on individual innovation; namely the ‘market revolution’, which initiated banks, transport and trade, and corporations; leading to reinvestment and distribution of wealth, and a healthy, vibrant economy – as far as it could be. This also meant that while the South was still largely socially hierarchical, the North began (stress, 'began'!) to build a large, equal working-class with rights, liberty and justice...