Transcript Sectional Differences - Sacred Heart Academy

Sectional Differences
Chapter 7 Section 2
The North Embraces Industry
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Between 1815 and 1860 – U.S. developed an
industrial sector
Embargo of 1807 and the War of 1812 cut off
access to British manufactured goods
Americans built their own factories in the
Northeast
Congress imposed the Tariff of 1816 – tariff on
imports designed to protect American industry
continued
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Helped industry but hurt farmers who had to
pay more for consumer goods
Most new factories arose in the Northeast
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More investors, cheaper labor, good rivers
Social Change in the North
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Industrialization hurt highly skilled artisans
Most suffered declining wages
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Sought political change
Developed labor unions – groups of workers
who unite to seek better pay and conditions
Factory owners sometimes turned to the courts
for protection
A Middle Class Emerges
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Middle class emerged
Many began to move their homes away from the
crowds of workshops and factories
Neighborhoods became segregated by class as
well as by race
Middle class – work became separated from
family life
Emigration From Ireland and
Germany
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More and more, working class comprised of
immigrants
Surge came mostly from Ireland and Germany –
nations suffering from depression, political
upheaval and rural famines
New immigrants tended to be Catholic or Jewish
Most immigrants had to find work on docks, in
factories, or construction sites
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Caused urban growth
Poverty forced immigrants to cluster in shabby
neighborhoods
Competed with African Americans
Clash between Protestants and Catholics
Many Protestants became active in Democratic Party
because they disliked immigration
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Nativists – campaigned for laws to discourage immigration or
to deny political rights to newcomers
Southern Agricultural Economy and
Society
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Slavery became more profitable as cotton
became the South’s leading crop
Three developments helped cotton production
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Cotton gin, industrialization, westward expansion
Cotton gin – 1793 invented by Eli Whitney,
machine reduced the amount of time and cost of
separating cotton seeds
Increase in cotton supply filled a growing
demand from textile factories
Cotton Boom Spreads Slavery
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Cotton required workers as well as land
Need met with slaves
Illegal trade and interstate trade filled the gap
Slaves became more valuable to their owners
Number of slaves increased between 1820 and
1840
Became more important to economy
Economic Consequences
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Most of South became too dependent on one
crop
Plantation dispersed the population
Also did not attract immigrants
Northern population grew faster than the
southern population
Trend increased political power of the North
Cultural Consequences
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Dispersed population and burden of slavery
affected the culture of the South
Rate of southern white illiteracy was 3 times
higher than the North
Most southern whites vigorously defended
slavery because they wanted to own their own
plantations