Sectionalism How different are the North and the South?

ElevationMineral Deposits PrecipitationTemperature Soil CompositionReligion Flood Regions Population Ancestry Woodlands

Elevation

North – Higher elevations, more changes in elevation South – Lower elevations, more broad, flat plaines

Precipitation

North – Milder precipitation South – More intense precipitation and humidity

Soil Composition

Flood Regions

North – More rocky soil, more metals and minerals, dryer land South – More rich and fertile soil, more prone to floods and nutrients

Population

Slave Population

North – Higher population, more concentrated population, larger cities, larger pool of workers South – Lower population, more spread out population, less available workers (slave labor needed?)

Population

North – More immigrants and those of foreign parentage South – More “Americans” by birth

Woodlands/Ground Cover

Mineral Deposits

North – More natural resource of trees South – more open plaines

Temperature

North – cooler overall climate, more extremes, shorter growing season South – warmer, milder overall climate, less extremes, longer growing season

Religion

North – More Catholic South – More Protestant

ECONOMY Based on the physical and cultural features of the country, the North and South develop into two very different regions, and based their accumulation of wealth on very different economies.

THE NORTH The northern soil and climate favored smaller farmsteads rather than large plantations. Industry flourished, fueled by more abundant natural resources than in the South, and many large cities were established The economy became based on taking raw materials and making finished products such as furniture, steel, glassware, edible food items, tins, ships, etc. in large scale factories 110,000 factories in the north as opposed to just 20,000 in the south

THE NORTH Two and half times the population of the South due to the amount of ports of entry into the country for immigrants looking for decent pay and low-skilled factory work. Seven out of every eight settled in the North rather than the South. The need for slave labor was low due to the fact that there were enough hands available to do the jobs – slaves were more considered a personal luxury as in-home servants

THE NORTH The north had 70% of the US railroads to take goods to and from markets to the south, to the west, and to the ships on the coast bound for overseas markets Industrial production in the north averaged over $1.5 billion a year, as opposed to less than $155 million a year in the south

THE SOUTH Due to the availability of large, open, fertile plains, the south developed a highly profitable cash-crop system of tobacco and cotton, items that couldn’t be grown in most parts of the world yet where in extremely high demand 90% of southerners lived in rural areas, and transportation between cities was difficult, except by water - only 35% of the nation's train tracks were located in the South.

THE SOUTH Tobacco and cotton are very labor intensive crops that need year-round cultivation. The south had only 1/3 of the country’s population, and a job requiring the year-round, outside care of difficult plants didn’t attract many northerners, immigrants, or even southerners. The demand for cheap (free) labor was necessary to make plantations profitable.

Slave-Owning Population (1850)

Cotton Production

Tobacco Production

Tariffs Tariffs are protective taxes on imports and exports. Extra money is added to the cost of incoming goods, and often on outgoing goods as well.

The north supported high government tariffs –Taxes on imports would make foreign goods too expensive for the American public to purchase and urge them to buy goods made here – northern profits would increase –Remember, the south was an exclusive market because they didn’t make any of their own finished products – even more profits

The south supported low government tariffs –Since the south imported just about everything, low tariffs would keep costs down by allowing foreign goods to compete with northern goods

–Since the largest markets for cotton and tobacco were overseas, high tariffs here may either add an extra cost to ship it, or other countries may choose to raise their tariffs. Either way the cost of southern goods went up Other countries may look elsewhere for cotton (Egypt, India) or tobacco (Cuba, Turkey)