UNITED STATES HISTORY AND THE CONSTITUTION South Carolina Standard USHC-2.3

USHC-2.3 Compare the economic development in different regions (the South, the North, and the West) of the United States during the early nineteenth century, including ways that economic policy contributed to political controversies.

North-South War As the result of growing economic differences between the North, South and the West, the regions developed different social values and political interests which led to political conflict and ultimately to war.

Geography Students must be able to identify on a map the areas that are known as North, South, the West and they should understand the moving frontier that defined the West.

Geographic Regions Geographic factors starting in the colonial period led to differences between the regions including safe harbors and fast flowing rivers in the North, fertile land for cash crops in the South and abundant new resources in the West such as fertile farm land and mineral deposits.

U.S. Mineral Deposits

Geographic Regions

Industry and Finance The North developed industry and finance in part because capital earned through the shipping industry was available for investment in factories while the South continued to invest in slavery and agriculture. The West also remained largely agricultural.

Germans and Irish The North attracted immigrants, especially Germans and Irish, to work in the factories in growing towns and cities while the South continued to rely on slave labor.

Northern reformers Economic differences affected and were affected by social differences between the regions, including differences in social reform movements such as education. Northern reformers called for public education in order to assimilate immigrants while the South outlawed teaching Africans to read and did not provide education even for white children.

National Bank Economic differences contributed to political controversies including controversies over the creation and continuation of the National Bank. The South and West opposed the National Bank because they viewed it as giving too much economic power to wealthy Northeasterners and favored state banks that would offer cheap loans.

Protective Tariff The protective tariff was supported by Northeasterners in order to protect their infant industries from foreign competition and accepted by the West in exchange for support for their own interests such as internal improvements (i.e. roads and canals) and cheap land.

Nullification Crisis The South opposed the protective tariff in the nullification crisis and also opposed internal improvements but supported cheap land as they moved west to plant more cotton.

Erie Canal The completion of the Erie Canal strengthened economic and thus political ties between the Northeast and the Northwest.

Henry Clay’s American System Henry Clay’s American System, a political alliance that traded western support for the tariff for northern support of internal improvements and cheap land, threatened the economic and political interests of the South and added to the animosity between the regions.

Economic Interests Different economic interests contributed to political differences over the extension of slavery into the west and contributed to disagreements over the admission of the new states of Missouri, Texas, California and Kansas which laid the groundwork for the controversies of the 1850s that culminated in secession and war.