THE SECTIONS GO THEIR
WAYS
• The South
– the South was less affected than other
regions by urbanization, European
immigration, the transportation revolution,
and industrialization
– the South remained predominantly
agricultural; however, the cultivation of
cotton and tobacco expanded westward
while the older sections of Maryland,
Virginia, and North Carolina diversified
their agriculture
– experiments with fertilizers, crop rotation,
• The Economics of Slavery
– the increased importance of cotton in the
South’s economy strengthened slavery’s
hold on the region
– the price of slaves increased, particularly in
the Deep South, and slave trading became
a big business
– the slave trade had disastrous effects on
slaves; families were often separated
– as slaves became more expensive,
ownership of slaves became more
concentrated
– by 1860, only 25 % of southern families
owned any slaves
– the South had few large plantations and
many small farms which grew staple crops
and owned few slaves
– plantations could yield high profits, but
southerners did not develop facilities for
marketing or transportation
– the profit from handling the crop went
largely to northern merchants and middle
men
– southern capital was tied up in land and
slaves and therefore not available for
investment in other things
– under slavery, southern blacks remained a
nonconsuming class, and much of the
intelligence, talent, and abilities of the
slave population was wasted
• Antebellum Plantation Life
– the “typical” antebellum plantation was
more like a small village than a northern
farm
– planters bought luxuries and manufactured
goods, but plantations produced most
household needs and nearly all the food
consumed
– the master exercised paternal authority
over the plantation
– his wife had immense domestic
responsibilities
– at the same time, she played the role of a
refined, gracious southern lady
– most slaves worked in the fields, but others
were employed as household servants and
artisans on the plantation
– though simple and crude, slave quarters
compared favorably with houses of
European peasants
• The Sociology of Slavery
– it is difficult to generalize about slavery
because so much depended on the
individual master’s behavior
– most owners provided adequate food,
clothing, and shelter for their slaves
– still, slaves had a higher rate of infant
mortality and a lower life expectancy than
whites
– the United States was the only slave
society in the western hemisphere whose
slave population grew by natural increase
– slaves had no rights
– slaves accommodated themselves to the
system while attempting to resist
oppression
– the “peculiar institution” hardened as
northern opposition to slavery grew and
southerners worried about insurrection
– slavery remained an essentially rural
institution, and its existence contributed to
the rural nature of the South
– not all blacks in the South were slaves;
however, white southerners took a dim
view of free blacks and restricted their
• The Psychological Effects of Slavery
– with few exceptions, such as Denmark
Vesey, most slaves appeared resigned to
their fate
– the system fostered submissiveness and
discouraged independent judgment and
self-reliance on the part of blacks
– in spite of this, slaves maintained strong
family and group attachments as well as a
culture of their own
– slavery had a detrimental impact on poor
southerners, who associated working for
others with servility
– slavery inevitably affected the master class
as well
– the patriarchal nature of the slave system
reinforced male dominance in southern
society
– some slave owners behaved nobly, within
the confines of the institution
– for others, slaves provided objects on
which to vent brutal tendencies
• Manufacturing in the South
– despite the dominance of cotton in the
southern economy, some manufacturing
did exist.
– rope production, iron and coal mining, iron
production
– Textile manufacturing in the Carolinas
– despite manufacturing, the South never
developed an industrial society in the 19th
century
• The Northern Industrial Juggernaut
– Northern society placed a premium on
resourcefulness and encouraged
experimentation; industry in that region
grew rapidly in the decades before the Civil
War
– the factory system made great strides, and
a shortage of skilled labor led businessmen
to substitute machines for trained hands
– Westward expansion made new resources
available, and the expansion of agriculture
produced an increasing supply of raw
materials for the mills and factories
– a relaxation of earlier prejudices against
the corporation made possible larger
accumulations of capital
– industrial growth increased the demand for
labor
– skilled artisans earned good wages; but
machinery made skills less important, and
the wages for an unskilled worker could
barely support a family
• A Nation of Immigrants
– jobs created by industrial expansion
attracted thousands of European
immigrants
– native-born Americans tended to look down
on immigrants, many of whom developed
prejudices of their own
– the arrival of unskilled immigrants created
economic disruptions
• How Wage Earners Lived
– growth of urban populations produced
slums
– wives and children of male factory workers
had to work in the factories to survive
– conditions for skilled workers improved in
the 1840s and 1850s; the working day
grew shorter, most states enacted
mechanic’s lien laws, and a Massachusetts
court established the legality of labor
unions in Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)
– unionism remained local and weak,
however, at least in part because skilled
workers looked down on unskilled workers,
and few laborers considered themselves
part of a permanent working class
• Progress and Poverty
– although the United States was a
democratic land of opportunity with an
expanding economy, few class distinctions,
and a comparatively high standard of
living, there existed a large class of poor,
unskilled, mostly immigrant laborers who
were materially less well off than most
southern slaves
– the gap between rich and poor widened,
and society became more stratified
• Foreign Commerce
– the United States remained primarily an
exporter of raw materials and an importer
of manufactured goods
– cotton was the most valuable export and
textiles the leading import
– Britain was the leading consumer of
American exports and America’s leading
supplier
– the success of sailing packets
concentrated trade in larger port cities;
smaller ports languished
– several smaller port cities in New England
maintained prosperity by concentrating on
whaling, which boomed between 1830 and
1860
– increased foreign trade spurred the
construction of ships and the development
of large, fast clipper ships
• Steam Conquers the Atlantic
– by late 1840s, steamships captured most
of the transatlantic passenger traffic, mail
contracts, and first class freight; although
fast sailing ships held their own on very
long voyages for many years
– Britain’s mastery of iron technology
negated traditional advantages American
shipbuilders had enjoyed and gave Britain
the lead in the development of iron ships,
which were larger, stronger, and less costly
to maintain
– Shipping rates declined, which encouraged
immigration from Europe
• Canals and Railroads
– canal building continued in the 1830s and
1840s; each year saw more western
produce move to market through the
canals
– first American railroads were built in the
1830s
– first railroads did not compete with canals
for intersectional traffic; the through
connections needed to move goods
economically over great distances
– competition among railroad companies
prevented connections, and engineering
problems impeded growth
– by the 1850s, however, these problems
had been solved, and by the end of the
decade, the Pennsylvania Railroad
crossed the mountains
• Financing the Railroads
– railroad construction required immense
amounts of labor and capital
– immigrants and slaves did most of the work
– private investors provided most of the
money invested in railroads before 1860
– towns, counties, and states also lent
money to railroads, invested in railroad
stock, and granted special privileges to
railroads (including tax exemptions and the
right to condemn property)
– eastern and southern interests often
opposed federal aid to railroads until after
the Civil War
• Railroads and the Economy
– railroad construction had profound effects
– the location of a railroad helped determine
what agricultural land was used and how
profitably it could be farmed
– land grant railroads stimulated agricultural
expansion by selling farm sites at low rates
on liberal terms
– access to world markets provided an
incentive to agricultural production
– labor remained scarce, but new machines,
including the steel plowshare and the
McCormick reaper, helped ease the labor
shortage
– eastern seaports benefited from the
railroads, as did intermediate centers, such
as Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Chicago
– railroads stimulated other economic activity
– they spurred regional concentration of
industry and investment banking
– the complexity of their operations required
elaborate administrative structures, which
made them the first modern business
enterprises
– proliferation of trunk lines and competition
from the canal system led to a sharp
decline in freight and passenger rates
• Railroads and the Sectional Conflict
– the economic integration of East and West
stimulated nationalism and became a force
for preserving the Union
– increased production and cheap
transportation meant more income and an
improved standard of living for western
farmers
– without railroads and canals and the link
they provided to eastern markets, Midwest
would not likely have sided against the
South in 1861
– failure to build a railroad system of its own
• The Economy on the Eve of the Civil
War
– between the mid-1840s and mid-1850s,
the United States experienced remarkable
growth in manufacturing, agricultural
production, population, railroad mileage,
gold production, and sales of public land
– such growth inevitably caused dislocations;
and a serious economic collapse in 1857
checked agricultural expansion, which hurt
the railroads and cut down on demand for
manufactured goods
– as a result, unemployment increased
– the vigor of the economy soon ended the
economic downturn
– the economic panic had its greatest impact
on the upper Mississippi Valley; it had little
effect on the South, because cotton prices
remained high