1. Two Worlds: the Antebellum North and South
The Road to War
Two Worlds:
the Antebellum North and South

2. Four Main Causes
sectionalism
slavery
tariffs
state’s rights

3. Regional Specialization
NORTH  Industrial
SOUTH  Cotton & Slavery
WEST  The Nation’s “Breadbasket”

4. “At first the hours seemed very long, but I was so interested in learning that I endured it very well; when I went out at night the sound of the mill was in my ears…” - Northern Mill Worker “We want no manufactures; we desire no trading, no mechanical or manufacturing classes. As long as we have our rice, our sugar, our tobacco and our cotton, we can command wealth to purchase all we want.” - Texas Politician
How do these quotes illustrate the differences developing between the north and the south?
How can regional differences lead to conflict?

5. Characteristics of the Antebellum North
Large population
Urbanization – rapid growth of cities
Primarily manufacturing
Industries – steel mills, textile (cloth) mills, shipping
Not dependent on imports or exports
Expansion of Transportation – canals and railroads

6. tended towards federalism
unskilled labor
North
Economic
Social
Political
eNvironmental
manufacturing
rapid growth of cities
mills
free African
Americans
transportation
steamboats
clipper ships
canals
railroads
factories
immigrants
abolitionists
thin rocky soil
strong central
government
jagged coastline
natural harbors
cold/moderate
climate
thick forest
tended towards federalism

7. New England Dominance in Textiles

8. Textile Mill

9. Changing Occupation Distributions: 1820 - 1860

10. Characteristics of the Antebellum South
Only a few large cities; small population; most people lived in rural rather than urban areas
Primarily agrarian (farming); plantations; cash crops
“Cotton Is King!” * 1860 5 mil. bales a yr (57% of total US exports)
Few industries
Inadequate transportation system
Very dependent on exports of cash crops to North and Europe and imports of manufactured goods from factories in the North and Europe

11. free African Americans
agriculture
South
Economic
Social
Political
eNvironmental
plantation owners
plantations
small farms
yeoman
cash crops
cotton
tenant farmers
slavery
transportation
few rail lines
river travel
river boats transport
people and goods
slaves
free African Americans
wide rivers
state
sovereignty
marshes
swamps
nullification
mild winters
wide coastal plains
hot humid summers
tended toward state’s rights

12. Southern Agriculture

13. Slaves Picking Cotton on a Mississippi Plantation

14. Characteristics of the Antebellum West
Traded mostly with the North
Linked to north by railroads, canals and rivers
Small population
Few people or towns
Farming grew grain, wheat, corn
Family farms
Few to no slaves

15. Western Frontier

16. American Population Centers in 1820

17. American Population Centers in 1860

18. Slavery
began in the English colonies (Jamestown, VA) in 1619 and continued in the U.S. until 1865
found in both the North and South in the and 1700’s by the middle of the 1700’s slavery continued mostly in the South as part of the plantation system
1808 became illegal to import enslaved persons into the U.S.

19. Impact of Slavery on Regions
NORTH
Illegal, abolitionists, and non-abolitionists
SOUTH
slaves were viewed as property
WEST
conflicts and balance of free vs. slave state

20. Southern Population

21. Southern Society (1850) “Slavocracy” [plantation owners] 6,000,000
The “Plain Folk” [white yeoman farmers]
Black Freemen
250,000
Black Slaves 3,200,000
Total US Population  23,000,000 [9,250,000 in the South = 40%]

22. Slave-Owning Population (1850)

23. The ESP Causes of the War
The Road to War
The ESP Causes of the War

24. Four Main Causes
sectionalism
slavery
tariffs
state’s rights

25. Economic Causes: Industrialism and Tariffs
Northern Economy – based on factories that produced a range if items such as clothes, iron, ships or household goods; growing immigration meant that there was a lot of cheap labor
Southern Economy – based on plantations and farms which produced agricultural products such as cotton, tobacco and corn; depended on slave labor

26. Tariffs
protective tariff – tax on imports to help local industries be more competitive
raised money for national government
made imported goods more expensive than American goods
NORTH – protected American industry
SOUTH – had to pay higher prices

27. Tariffs
NORTH – was FOR TARIFFS imports would cost more than products manufactured at “home” in the north; factories would have an advantage over factories in England
SOUTH - was AGAINST TARIFFS imported 90% of their manufactured goods; overall raised the prices of goods

29. Social Causes
Slavery
Constitutional compromises – as nation grew more people started to speak out against the institution of slavery and call for its abolition
“Slavery…can and must be abolished, and you and I can and must do it. There is a higher law than the Constitution…”
- William H. Seward
Senator New York

30. Slavery: The Debate
In the 1850’s Western lands began to open up to American settlement including Texas
The debate over whether slavery should spread began to divide the country:
NORTH – opposed the spread of slavery
SOUTH – argued that each new state should be able to choose slavery if it wanted
WEST – both for and against slavery

31. Political Causes State’s Rights Supremacy of the federal government
SOUTH – believed in state’s rights argument based on the 10th Amendment – U.S. was a union of soverign states which had the right to judge if a law passed by Congress was constitutional; federal govt’s authority was limited
NORTH – believed in supremacy of the federal govt argument based on the Supremacy Clause of the 6th Amendment; broad federal authority
WEST – split on the issue

32. State’s Rights
rights held by states that place limits on the implied powers of the federal (national) government over state governments

33. State’s Rights
Belief in some southern states that the federal government could not tell states which laws to obey
Southern states argued that each new western state should get to choose whether it allowed slavery
Southern states also argued that states that were hurt by protective tariffs should be able to refuse to pay the taxes to the federal government

34. Nullification Crisis
1832
South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union if the federal government tried to collect tariffs in their state
Used the doctrine of states’ rights to try to nullify the tariff laws

35. Nullification Crisis (Cont.)
President Andrew Jackson urged congress to pass a law saying that he could use the army or navy to enforce the tariff law
South Carolina backed down from their threat to secede and a compromise tariff bill was passed

36. Political Causes
Sectionalism
loyalty to one’s region or state, instead of the entire nation
North vs. South vs. West

37. John C. Calhoun Southern Champion
South Carolina
Avid supporter of slavery as a southern institution and right
Supported states’ rights
States could exercise their sovereignty and refuse to obey or nullify a federal law within their borders
Opposed high tariffs believed that they hurt the south
Opposed the Wilmot Proviso
Opposed the Compromise of 1850

38. Daniel Webster Defender of the Union
Massachusetts
Anti-slavery
Anti-states’ rights
Supported high tariffs
Defended the supremacy of the federal government over the various state governments
Supported Compromise of recognized the southern threat of secession as legitimate

39. Henry Clay The Great Compromiser
Kentucky
Opposed to slavery even though he owned slaves
Gradual emancipation of slaves
Did not believe in states’ rights, but he believed that the federal government should be more respectful of the states
Missouri Compromise 1820
Compromise Tariff 1833
Compromise of 1850

40. “It is, Sir, the people’s Constitution, the people’s government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people. Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”
Daniel Webster
Massachusetts
“ The Union - next to our liberty, the most dear!”
John C. Calhoun
South Carolina

41. North
South
West
center of manufacturing
center of cotton production
largely frontier
contained only free states
contained only slave states
(4 million slaves)
sparsely populated
supported high tariffs
opposed high tariffs
Supremacy of the federal government –
Based on Supremacy Clause of the 6th amendment
State’s rights –
based upon the 10th amendment U.S. a union of sovereign states which had the right to judge laws passed by Congress as constitutional
Split on the issue of state’s rights but tended to side with the south
broad authority of the federal government
federal government authority limited
Sectionalism – loyalty to one’s region or state instead of the entire nation