Development of the North
- busy cities
- embraced technology
- built factories staffed by paid workers
- heavy immigration created diverse society
Development of the South
- agrarian
- economy and way of life based largely on cotton
- depended on labor of slaves
Cotton cultivation and slavery spread across the Deep South
- through Florida and Alabama into Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas
The acquisition of land from the Mexican-American War caused controversy between the North and the South.
Northern View of Slavery
- Slavery ended early in the North, but slowly
- By 1800…50,000 slaves in the North and 1 million in the South
- In 1860, there were 18 slaves in New Jersey
- Most white northerners viewed blacks as inferior
o Laws limited rights of free blacks
o Discouraged or prevented the migration of more
- Few northerners had personal experience with blacks – slave or free
- Only a few held strong opinions about slavery
- Abolitionists
o Vocal minority
o Wanted to end slavery
o Believed slavery was morally wrong
o Some believed in gradual end to slavery…some wanted immediate end to slavery
- Not all northerners wanted to end slavery
o Bankers, mill owners, and merchants profited from southern cotton and tobacco
o Sympathetic to plantation owners
o Some northern workers feared job competition from freed slaves
Southern View of Slavery
- believe God intended that black people should provide the labor for white “civilized” society
- Northern free labor system harmed society more than slavery
- Slaves healthier and happier than northern wage workers
California Statehood threatened the balance of power
- Mass population migration to California in search of gold
- Need for government was large as it became a wild and lawless place
- Drafted a state Constitution in 1849
o Asked to be admitted as a free state
- What to do???
There were other issues dividing North and South
- Texas dispute with government over northwestern border
- New Mexico and Utah organizing to become territories …and eventually states…probably free
- Abolitionists gaining support to ban slavery in Washington DC
Southerners demanded the federal government enforce the weak Fugitive Slave Law of 1793
- runaway slaves must be returned to their masters
- no government aid was provided for this
- South believed its property and honor were at stake
- North insisted federal government should not help enforce slavery