South Geography Mild winters and long hot humid summers Plentiful rainfall and long growing seasons Fertile coastal plains with swamps and marshes Access to sea ports (exports) Broad flat rivers Rolling hills Thick pine forests (N. Carolina)

Jagged New England coast (rocky soil) North Geography Four distinct seasons Jagged New England coast (rocky soil) Plains with rich soil in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Thick forests (New England) Large forested region in the central plains Experiencing deforestation

South Economy Economy based on agriculture – cash crops COTTON Plantations used slaves to grow cash crops (COTTON) Money invested in slave and land Most whites worked their own small farms Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made cotton the south's most important crop Agrarians favored a way of life based on farming and policies that support agricultural interests

North Economy Center of the Industrial revolution (shift from making by hand to manufacturing with machines) New inventions (steam engine) and manufacturing methods made good cheaper and more plentiful Rivers provided power to operate early factories and mills Industrialists (large business owners) spurred the economy favor a strong national government Northern agriculture was industrialized with inventions like the reaper

North Transportation Steamboats made river travel faster and cheaper Northerners supported federal funding for internal improvements (roads, and canals) The National Road connected the new western states with the East The Erie Canal linked the central Plains to East coast cities By 1850 the railroads became the most efficient way to move goods By 1860 20,000 miles of rail linked Northern factories to cities hundreds of miles away

South Transportation River travel was the main form of transportation Cities sprang up along water ways Southerners were against federal funding for internal improvements (roads, and canals) because they thought they only benefit the north By 1860 there was 10,000 miles of rail in this region

Wealth was measured in land and slaves South Society Wealth was measured in land and slaves Rigid social structure (little movement up/down) Wealthy Plantation owners: dominate the economy and politics (educated and privileged) (50-200 slaves) agrarians (leisurely life style) White farmers and workers: Many whites owned some land but few owned slaves, they worked their own land and made what was needed, 10% of whites did not own land Free African Americans worked as craftspeople, servants and Laborers (had special rules) Slaves: most were field hands some cooks servants and skilled labor

North Society Mid-1800 the population began moving to towns and cities cities were dirty and poorly constructed (lack sewers and pavement) 1845-1850 increase in immigration (German and Irish) Immigrants settled in cities Fluid social structure (mobility) Upper class: Merchants, factory owners, bankers, industrialists Middle class: doctors, lawyers, shop owners, and skilled craftsmen, German Immigrants (war) fit in easily Poor whites: factory workers, farmers(7 in 10 northerners), Irish Immigrants (famine), faced hostility African Americans (free but not equal) segregation