The Worlds of North and South Introduction Eli

The Worlds of North and South

Introduction – Eli Whitney A Problem The Idea Man • Complaints from planters/farmers: • Cotton grew well in the South • Eli Whitney The three areas differed in their economies, transportation systems, Using cheap slave labor, there was little profit inand raising societies – Cleaning the seeds out of cotton fibers was a big problem • A slave picking out seeds by hand could clean only a few pounds a day • – Invented a machine to: • Manufacture nails more quickly than making them by hand • Manufactured hat pins and men’s canes – While tutoring in the South • Came up with the idea of the Cotton Gin cotton – Will have different effects on the North and South

Geography of the North Features Northerners Natural adapted to • Jagged New England coast All the Northern states experienced four distinct geographical seasons Most northerly states differences • Inland from the sea by creating different industries and ways of making a living Climate • • – Had hundreds of bays and inlets -- perfect for use as harbors – Shipbuilding, fishing, and commerce flourished in this are – Had colder winters and shorter summer growing seasons than states farther south, such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. – Narrow, flat plain with a thin covering of rocky soil – Farming was not easy here • Instead, many people turned to trade and crafts – Others moved west in search of better farmland.

Geography of the North Natural Features • New England’s hills rose sharply above V-shaped valleys carved by steep streams • Farther south in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Negative Effect: Deforestation, • Central Plains, a large, forested drained by the Ohio or the clearingregion of forests and Mississippi rivers – New Englanders found that they could make money by harvesting timber • Wood was used for shipbuilding and in trade with other countries – Rivers deposited rich soil over the plains – Areas supported themselves by farming – Have some of the best agricultural soil in the world • Settlers cleared the forests to make way for farms

Geography of the South Climate Natural Features • Southern states enjoyed mild winters and long, hot, humid summers • Along the coast, the plains were dotted with swamps and marshes – Ideal for growing rice and sugarcane • Indigo was grown on the dry land above the swamps, and tobacco and corn were farmed farther inland Cities and towns all started by rivers – Plentiful rainfall and long growing seasons made this a perfect place for raising warm -weather crops • Above the plains rose the Appalachians – Carved farms and orchards out of rolling hills and mountain hollows – • • Most people in the South were farmers Southerners used natural resources in other ways as well Other Professions – Lumber – Gathered fish, oysters, and crabs

Economy of the South The Beginning • South’s economy was based on agriculture • Use of slaves had begun to decline (1790’s) – Most white Southerners were agrarians who favored a way of life based on farming • Rich plantation owners, did not have to do the hard work of growing crops themselves – Most white Southerners worked their own small farms • Plantation owners used slaves to grow such cash crops – – Tobacco Rice Sugarcane Indigo – Europeans were unwilling to pay high prices due to the decline • Cotton was a promising crop – Had a hard time making a profit • Had to find a time efficient way of sorting the seeds from the cotton – Discouraged planters were buying fewer slaves, and even letting some go free

Economy of the South The Beginning • Eli Whitney – Took a job tutoring children on a Georgia plantation • Observed the way cotton was cleaned by hand • Whitney had an idea – “If a machine could be invented which would clean the Cotton with expedition [speed], ” he wrote his father, “it would be a great thing. . . to the Country. ” • Six months later – Cotton Gin

Economy of the South The Impact of the Cotton Gin Expanding Demand for Land Slaves • Whitney’s “cotton engine, ” called the cotton gin for short • Raising cotton in the same fields year after year soon wore out the soil – Purpose: used rotating combs to separate cotton fiber from its seeds – Effect: a single worker could clean as much cotton as 50 laborers • Cotton was the South’s most important crop – Became the U. S. leading exported good – Result: went West for more soil – Whitney’s hopes: lighten the work of slaves • Instead, it made slavery more important to the South than ever – Slavery rose from 500, 000 to more than 3 million • Southerners putting money into land slaves, the South had little interest in building factories – Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia • Made ammunition and weapons for the U. S. army, as well as steam engines, rails, and locomotives

Economy of the North Industrial Revolution • Began in England in the late 1700 s • Came to United States in the early 1800 s – A shift from making things and doing work by hand to making things and doing work with machines The Growth of Industry in the North • Francis Cabot Lowell – Saw how machines worked in England • Used fast-moving streams to turn a wheel = energy – Lowell memorized the design of the British machines • Built one of the first American textile factories, along the Merrimack River outside Boston – Factory combined spinning and weaving machinery in the same building

Economy of the North The Growth of Industry in the North • Workers – Hired young women, very eager to make money This era is known as the Steam Power • Technology hurt the work Industrial Revolution force • A. K. A: “Lowell Girls” – Worked 12 -15 hour days – Sundays off • The Growth of Industry in the North • New inventions and manufacturing methods made goods cheaper and more plentiful – Effect: Allowed for factories to be built anywhere – does not have to be along a river • Eli Whitney’s new concept – Interchangeable parts • Could assemble products even more cheaply by making them from identical parts – Concept: Build it faster, more quantity, charge less, make a profit – E. X. Elias Howe’s sewing machines • Machines could do more work and faster than seamstresses • Effect: people lost jobs

Economy of the North The Growth of Industry in the North • Factory owners – Tended to favor a strong national government • Promoted improvements in manufacturing, trade, and transportation • Southern Fears – Did not like the new wealth in the North – Big Fear: Northern interests might grow too powerful and threaten the South’s way of life

Economy of the North Machines Make Agriculture More Efficient • Cyrus Mc. Cormick Northern boomed • Industrial Revolutioneconomy Effects – New machines increased the rate at which agricultural goods could be produced – Built a machine called a reaper • 28 times faster at cutting grain than a single man using a scythe By 1860: Northern economy was 10 x’s • John Deere greater than the South – Built a reaper factory in Chicago, Illinois • Used the interchangeable parts idea – production boomed – Invented the steel-tipped plow • Reduced the amount of labor needed to plow a field • Made it easier to plant and harvest large quantities of wheat

Transportation in the North Building Better Roads • First attempt for improvement – 1806, Congress funded the construction of a National Road across the Appalachian Mountains – Purpose: • Connect the new western states with the East • Improvement stop – Monroe argued that spending federal money for a state’s internal improvements was unconstitutional (strict constructionist) Fast Ships and Canals • River travel was still faster and cheaper than travel by land – Going upstream was difficult • Steam engines would solve the problem • Robert Fulton (1807) – Raced the Clermont upstream on the Hudson River • Showed speed and efficacy for its time

Transportation in the North Fast Ships and Canals • Erie Canal • 1817, New York hired engineers and workers to build a 363 -mile canal from the Hudson River to Lake Erie • Because of its success – other states built canals • Clipper ships • Fast sailing ships – food would not spoil – Cut ocean travel time in half • Led to increased Northern trade with foreign ports around the world. Traveling by Rail • The future – Inspired by the success of steamboats • Advantages – Trains traveled faster than steamboats – Could go wherever tracks could be laid—even across mountains • Railroads were the North’s biggest business

Transportation in the South Rivers, and More Rivers • People and goods continued to move on rivers – Channels of Southern rivers made water travel easy and relatively cheap • Slave docks – Slaves loaded cotton bales directly onto steam-powered riverboats • Cotton boom made New Orleans one of the largest cities in the South – Once the cotton reached the sea • Loaded onto sailing ships headed for ports in England or the North • Towns and cities sprang up along waterways – Little need for roads or canals to connect these settlements • Southerners opposed bills in Congress that would use federal funds for internal improvements – Did not want to benefit the North • Some railroads were built in the South – Transported cotton to North • Half the rail lines of the North

Society in the South Social Classes Slavery Question • Top: Rich plantation owners • Middle: White farmers and workers • Bottom: African Americans —mostly enslaved • Situation – As long as the slave economy could be preserved • Little incentive to make progress economically or culturally • Religion was affected – South churches: preached it was ok to enslave • Opposite of the churches in the North – Separated North from South further

Society in the South White Southerners The Majority of Whites • Small group of wealthy plantation owners • Most white families – Controlled: • The economy and politics of the South • Enjoyed a leisurely way of life – Filled with parties and social visits • Education – Sons – went to Universities and colleges – Daughters – raised to be wives and hostesses – Owned some land • Only about one in four owned even one slave • The majority worked their own fields – Made most of what they needed themselves • 10 percent of whites were too poor to own any land – They rented rugged mountain or forest land paid the rent with the crops they raised • Many white children were illiterate

Society in the South African Americans in the South • Small minority of the African • Majority of African Americans were free blacks Americans in the South were slaves • Had to do the following: – Wear special badges – Pay extra taxes – Live separately from whites • Occupations: – Craftspeople, servants, or laborers – Worked as: • Cooks, carpenters, blacksmiths, house servants, or nursemaids – Majority were: • Field hands who labored from dawn until past dusk

Society in the North Urban Sprawl • Cities are growing rapidly – People still live on farms (7 out of 10 people) • Big cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston are growing rapidly – Jobs are there • Cities of the North – Unsanitary • No sewers or paved streets • Disease spread rapidly African Americans in the North • Blacks in the North were free, they were not treated as equal to whites • Limitations: – – Could not vote Hold office Serve on juries Attend white churches and schools • African Americans often worked as laborers or servants – Due to employers would not hire them

Society in the North Immigrants Arrive in the North • Between 1845 and 1860, four million immigrants came to the United States • Resentment – From Ireland Germany • People of Ireland left due to a potato famine • Germans left due to failed revolutions – Many lived in the cities where jobs were offered – Americans resented the Irish the most • They were Roman Catholic – The United States was mostly Protestant at the time • Accepted very low wages – This took jobs away from native-born workers – More than one-third of all U. S. immigrants came from Ireland