Antebellum North And South Analysis

It’s funny how Historian’s like to use explosive language like “revolution” and “boom” to describe events that took several decades to develop. During the Antebellum Period, both the North and the South underwent economic, social, and ideological changes but they happened much more subtly than the titles suggest. The North moved more noticeably into their new era of progress and hard work, while in the South changes were leisurely and served more to solidify their culture. In the simplest terms, economic changes from 1815 to 1850 altered Northern and Southern ideology and society. To talk about the economic “revolutions” that occurred in the antebellum North and South, it is important to recognize the improvements made to transportation and manufacturing. They drove the economies forward. The North underwent a unique transportation transformation with the creation of a canal that system allowed goods to be transferred from the Northeast coastline to the interior. The best example of this is the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal, an artificial river that connected the …show more content…
There was no new class emergence during the antebellum period. The economic growth and ideological shifts led to the tightening of the wealthy plantation owners. They lived a life of leisure and pleasure. They were so confident of their status and the security of slavery that for a time, a free Black community, documented by Melvin Ely, worked side by side with white laborers, even sometimes getting better business and higher wages. However it is possible that the South missed out on economic advancement to keep this societal structure. Many plantation owners were fearful of cities, because it would easier for slaves to congregate and revolt, the failed Nat Turner rebellion being an example. Railroads as well were seen as ways slaves could escape too easily. One could wonder if the South limited the economic revolutions to keep their society