Economic and Social Divisions between North and South

Economic and Social Divisions between North

and South

SectionalismConcern for local

needs and culture supersede interest in the national good

The North became increasingly concerned with industry while the South remained an agrarian, slave-based society

New technology fuels sectionalism

Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin

Developed in 1794Machine that separated

usable cotton from its seeds

Made cotton farming more profitable and led to the rise of “King Cotton”, the South’s dependency on the cotton trade

Growth in the cotton trade led to further growth in slavery

Interchangeable partsEli Whitney also

developed the idea of making mechanical products out of standardized parts

If a part broke, it could be replaced easily with another part just like it

Whitney first applied this to muskets

Samuel Slater’s“Factory System”

1768 – 1835British cotton mill

manager who violated British emigration law to come to US

British did not want secrets of their industrial technologies to spread to other countries

Francis C. Lowell1775 – 1817Studied British

textile mills before returning to US and building first industrialized textile mill in the country, in Massachusetts

One of the first businesses to sell stock to raise capital

Lowell GirlsFactory workers in

Lowell’s millsAveraged over 70

hours a weekHad to attend church

services, maintain a strict moral standard

Stood up for labor rights by going on strikes, pushing for labor laws

Sewing machinesDeveloped by Elias

Howe from work of others and patented in 1846

Opened the way for mass product of finished textiles (cheap, store-bought clothes and linens)

Why did the North industrialize?

Easy to get loansFew government

restrictionsLow tax ratesCheap labor available due

to immigration States passed laws which

protected business owners from liability to investors for losses

Many streams and rivers to provide water power

Technology encourages westward expansion, ties North to West

The Erie CanalCompleted in 1825Connected Lake

Erie to Hudson River

Cheap way to travel for families heading west

Connected NYC to Great Lakes, making NYC top commercial center in US

SteamboatsFirst put into

practical commercial use in US in 1807 by Robert Fulton

Quickly became the preferred means of travel along major US rivers and the Great Lakes

The National Road

Built between 1811 – 1839US government never finished the road

Toll roads & turnpikes

Privately ownedBy 1821: 4000

miles of toll roads built (almost all in North)

Mainly built between Northern cities or to connect the West to Northern cities

RailroadsMiles of railroad in

US1830: 401840: 27551850: 85711860: 28,9201870: 49,1681880: 87,8011890: 163,562

Miles of railroad in South

1830: 101840: 7371850: 20821860: 79081870: 10,6101880: 14,4581890: 27,833

“Tom Thumb”1830First American

built locomotiveBuilt by Peter

CooperTraveled at 10 mph

along a 13 mile track around Baltimore

Used as a demo only

TelegraphDeveloped by

Samuel Morse in 1837

Allowed long-distance communication through coded electrical impulses sent through wires

Allowed news to travel quickly through the nation

Steel plow

Iron plows worked poorly in American Midwest due to loamy soil

Steel plow developed by blacksmith John Deere in 1837

Tens-of-thousands sold, made the Great Plains “America’s Bread Basket”

McCormick ReaperHorse-drawn

machine which harvested wheat; harvest now required less labor

Invented by Cyrus McCormick (with the help of a slave) in 1834

Went into mass production in 1847