A Comparison

The North and the South

Economy based on agricultureMost white southerners worked on small

farms, but a few owned plantations and used slaves to grow crops like tobacco and riceUse of slaves decreased in 1790s because

Europeans weren’t willing to pay for these crops

Owners started selling slaves and even letting them go free

Economy of South

Growers thought cotton could make money, but it was too hard to separate the seeds from the fiber

1793: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin that separated cotton fiber from its seedsBy early 1800s, cotton was the South’s most

important cropBy 1860, cotton exports made more money than all

other US exports combinedSlavery grew as a result of the cotton gin—rising

from 500,000 (1790) to > 3 million (1850)White southerners didn’t have any interest building

factories

Eli Whitney

During the colonial era, Americans made everything by hand

Beginning in the late 1700s, inventors started developing machines to make products more quickly and cheaplyShift from manufacturing by hand to

manufacturing by machines is called the Industrial Revolution

1815—Francis Lowell builds first US textile factory—hires young farmwomen (“Lowell Girls”)More mills are built near rivers

Economy of the North

By 1830s, steam engines are developed Factories don’t need to be built near rivers

Eli Whitney introduces interchangeable parts, making manufacturing even cheaper

Work is shifting from skilled craftspeople to less skilled laborers Not as many skills needed to operate a sewing machine

Factory owners wanted a strong nat’l gov’t that could promote improvements in manufacturing, trade, and transportation

1831—reaper is invented, and allows for wheat to be harvested in much larger quantities

1860—Northern manufacturing 10x more valuable than Southern manufacturing

Economy of the North

Cotton Gin

Child worker

Interchangeable Parts

Reaper

Sewing Machine

National (Cumberland) Road, built in 1811, was the first major road built by the gov’t

1816—Pres. Monroe vetoed a bill that would have given states money to build more roads, saying it was unconstitutional

Cheaper way to travel was through riversSteam engines solved the problem of going upstreamErie Canal was the first link between farms on the Central

Plains and East Coast citiesClipper ships cut ocean travel time in halfSteam-powered locomotives traveled faster than

steamboats and could travel anywhereBy 1860, more than 20,000 miles of rail linked northern

factories

Transportation in the North

Clipper Ship

Rivers were used more commonly in the SouthCotton was the most important product shipped by

waterMost cotton was shipped down the Mississippi, through

N.O. to England or the NorthMost southern towns/cities sprang up along waterways

because river travel was the main form of transportationSoutherners opposed bills that would use federal funds

to build internal improvements, because roads would probably be built in the North

Some railroads in the South, but just 10,000 miles, compared to 20,000 in the North

Transportation in the South