north was more industrial Flashcards
(5 cards)
topic sentence
Moreover, historians such as Frank Owsley argue that regardless of shared economic features, the North was more of an industrial than the South
evidence 1 - factories
There were greater industrial developments in the North rather than the South. For example, in 1850, of around 140, 000 US factories, the South was only home to 20, 000 of them. This suggests that the North was more industrial than the South as while the North were able to increase their rate of production due to the large number of factories they had, the South were falling behind. The South’s lack of industrial production therefore meant that they had to rely on slavery to run their economy, which inevitably led to a sectional divide as Northerners were gradually beginning to resent this institution.
evidence 2 - Massachusetts
Additionally, in 1860, the Northern state of Massachusetts produced more manufactured goods than all of the future Confederate states put together. This clearly suggests that there was an economic gulf between the North and South because it emphasizes the lack of industrialization of the South. For that reason, Charles and Mary Beard argue that the sections were divided into an agricultural South and an industrialized North, highlighting how the North and South were growing increasing different as time went on.
counter analysis
However, it is wrong to label the Southern economy as evonomically backward as king cotton sales made up 50% of the total US exports, suggesting that despite not being as industrial as the north, they were still able to make significant financial gains from their cottpn exports.
evaluation
To evaluate, it is clear that the North was more industrialised than the South in the 1850s as they produced the majority of the US manufactured output, while the South continued to rely on cotton to fund their economy. Therefore, Frank Owsley is correct when he argues that the South’s social and economic institutions rested upon cotton and the links that this brought them with nations such as Britain.
