Civil War North Vs South Essay

Before the events of the Civil War, the North and South experienced great divides. In hindsight, it is not difficult to understand why. The North’s economy was industrialized and had “an integrated economy with farming and agriculture” (2). In contrast, the South developed a “predominantly agrarian economy” and became a farming region (1). With modern cities in the North and plantations in the South, the two regions held striking cultural differences, which translated into economic and political differences. One of their most notable difference would be their positions on slavery. In general, the North developed the idea that the federal government holds greater power over states while the South promoted the states’ rights. These differing …show more content…
In order to run their plantations, these men used slave labor as a cheap workforce. After a while, this form of labor became threaded throughout the southern economy and plantations became dependent on it. In the North, however, slave labor grew obsolete after the arrival of new laborers and, after a while, was abolished. The support for abolishing slavery, not just in the North, but nationwide became more prominent. The Fugitive Slave Act and the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin added to the movement. These positive feelings towards slavery abolishment only increased the threatened feelings the South had. To make matters worse for the South, “some abolitionists actively helped runaway slaves to escape [southern plantations] via ‘the Underground Railroad” (1). Furthermore, in events such as the Missouri Compromise, Bloody Kansas, and Harper’s Ferry, the South began to solidify their negative view depicting the North as a power-hungry abolitionist movement. The final turning point was when Abraham Lincoln ran for and won the presidency as a Republican who was part of a party that opposed slavery. Quickly, southern states convened and voted to succeed, which marked the start of the beginning of the Civil