Econmic Differences Essayb Flashcards
Intro Background
-during the 1850s america was a country of two political parties operating under the second party system (whigs and democrats)
-USA not only split north and south but also women v men. only 25% of white woman worked outside the home pre-marriage and fewer than 5% did so married
-usa was also seeing rapid pop growth
Factors
-different economic systems
- industry/farming
-slavery
Different Economic Systems
-the typical northerner was a self-sufficient farmer, owning 50-500 acres of land, the same was true from the south in 1860 75% of families didn’t own slaves
-different economic interests. North introduced tariff which was a constant grievance to southerners
-however the north was still more industrial with the south only producing 10% of goods
different economic systems historians
farmer “inevitably much of the profits from king cotton ended up in yaknee pockets”
grant argued that agriculture was the dominate means by which northerners and southerners made their living
industry
-north more industrilised, with 35% of the pop, the south states only produced 10% of manufactured output
-by 1860 northern state massavhussets produced more manufactured goods than all the future confederate states put together
-southern crops made up 3/5th of the total US exports
industry historians
-c+m beard argues that the sections were divided into agarian south and industry north
-david potter argued there was no econmic gulf beetween the north and the south
slavery
-north becoming free. Introduction of cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 which helped revoultionise southern agri
-in 1790 only 9000 bales of cotton proudced in USA then by 1830 south was producing 2million bales a year
Slavery Historians
-susan mary grant “It is important to bear in mind, too that the south had committed itself to a slave-based econmy as the north had to a free labour one.
