In the 1800s, what was the most thing differently in the North and the South of America? At the time, there were too many factories were contributed in the North. The North had few slaves, and it was taking path of development in urbanization. In the South, there were too many scattered villages, which were growing farms, and millions of slaves worked for southern people. In fact, the slavery was the especially differences that split the nation (America against America, 2002). What difference the slavery showed? The slavery view differently in the north than in the south, because of the important role it played in three areas—economic development, control of the territories and political competition.
Economic development
The North and the South of America was very different target of economic development and it was the one reason that they had different requirements to slavery. The article “Slavery during in the Civil War” said that the people who lived in the North and South were totally different way of life. The South needed a lot of free labor to grow cotton at the plantation, but the North did not really need slavery as much as the South did. That was why the North people opposed slavery move than the southern people (Prabhakar). At that time, the North was based on industrial development. They needed a large number of workers in factories. But in the South, plantation owners got large number slaves to work in the plantation. Cotton was the main product of the South, and it was exported to the North and the England. At the time, there was no doubt the key economic in the southern that was production of cotton by slaves. However, these low-cost of raw cotton can expand production and provided a huge benefits, because the slaves were free labor in the American (Whaples, R. 2010). The existence of slavery was the lifeline in the South’s economy, the slavery dragged down industrial development in the North at the same time. Therefore, this was one reason that the North wanted to abolish slavery. The different economic was not only thing that made the American North and South differently, they had a big contradiction of the geographical division.
The control of the territories
The control of the territories was a big problem when the American North and South argued about slave-state or free-state. According to the article “Trying to save the union: The compromise of 1850.” there was a new territory in the west of the United States that the northern part wanted it to be slave-free, but the southern part wanted it to be slave-state. Therefore, the American South wanted to separate from the U.S and to be a single country (United States History, 2002). The South established a new country, the Confederate States of America. It did not want to belong to the United States (Vivian Bernstein, 2001). The American North and South did not want to fight each other, but it was inevitable when they faced in conflict of interest. The same article “Trying to save the union” mentioned that the Congress wanted to keep the United States unity, so, it made a compromise and let the American North and South both give up something and get something. For example, California should be a free state but the South did not like it. And Texas, New Mexico and Utah withhold slavery what the North had to allowed it even they did not want (United States History, 2002).
On slavery and the competition for land, that was really hurtful to the United States, there was an example called “Bleeding Kansas.” According to article “Dred Scott remains a slave.” Kansas will be a state in the 1850s, and many slavery supporters crossed the border from Missouri to vote illegally when the elections began. The pro-slavery government which was elected wrote a new constitution for Kansas, and some laws still supported slavery. It leads violence between pro- and anti-slavery supporters, and caused many people dead. That was why it was called “Bleeding Kansas” (United States History, 2002). “Bleeding Kansas” was a sign of competition for territories, that it was hurting the unity of the country. Slavery conflict was not only very serious injuries and deaths, and it was a tool of the northern government to win the political competition.
The Political competition
The South wanted to be a single country called the Confederate States of America, but the North wanted to unify the United States and control the political power. Slavery was one of the major obstacles between the American North and South. The government document “Slavery and the Civil War”, the ideas from southern part. The old constitution was written thought that slavery broke natural laws and was against social, moral and political principles that thinking was wrong, because it was based on the belief that races are equal, which is not true ( Alexander H, Stephens, 1861). For the Confederate States of America, slavery was natural and normal but the status of the white man was the highest.
President Lincoln wanted to unify the North and South, so, he wrote a paper, Emancipation Proclamation, It said all of the slaves were free (Vivian Bernstein, 2001). The paper encouraged many slaves escape from the South, and some of them joined union army. But President Lincoln did not really implement his goal, because to free slaves just made him won the rights of politic control. The article “Dred Scott remains a slave” was explained the law did not really free the slaves. Dred Scott was a slave and belonged to a doctor. First they lived in the slave state of Missouri, then, they moved to the state of Illinois which was controversial territory between slave-state and free-state. Dred Scott still lived as a slave here in several years even though slavery was not allowed. After the doctor died, Dred Scott applied to be a free man in the Supreme Court. But he got most justices vote against. The chief Justice said that slaves never got U.S. citizenship, and they were property for their masters wherever in a free-state or a slave-state. The decision from the Supreme Court was a big problem and further broke up slavery and anti-slavery power (United States History, 2002).
For a long time in this country, slavery had a very important historical significance. Although Thomas Jefferson wrote “All men are created equal…” in the Declaration of Independence, he had more than 180 slaves anyway. Although George Washington was the great founding father in the history of the United States, he owned more than 200 slaves. Maybe at the beginning, some people against the slavery. Slowly, they began to enjoy life in slavery. Especially in the south, slavery was an important factor in the success of plantations (America against America, 2002). That’s why the slavery was more important in the South. For the North, a small number of slaves or no slaves was did not matter to its development goals.
References (APA)
History of Slavery. (n.d.). The Civil War. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/history-slavery.htm
Pillai, P. (n.d.). Slavery during the Civil War. Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http: //www.buzzle.com/articles/slavery-during-the-civil-war.html
Freedmen, the Freed Slaves of the Civil War. (n.d.). The American Civil War Home Page. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://http://www.civilwarhome.com/freedmen.htm
Bernstein, V. (2001). America’s story . Austin, TX: Steck-Vaughn.
Kaser, V. C., & Scott, C. (2002). The complete book of United States history . Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill.
The Economics of the Civil War | Economic History Services. (n.d.). EH.Net | Economic History Services. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us
