northern economic policies Flashcards
(7 cards)
topic sentence
Some historical figures such as James Hammond argue that Northern Economic Policies were the most important reason for the breakdown of the two-party system.
evidence 1 - effects of 1957 economic crash
Panic hit the Northern economy in 1857; business failures multiplied, there was mass Northern unemployment, crop prices drastically increased, even the Federal Treasury ran a deficient for the first time in 10 years. T
analysis 1
This led to the breakdown of the two-party system as President Buchanan failed to help solve the economic problems because of his belief that federal intervention would damage both the individuals and the country itself. Therefore, it made Northerns less inclined to support the Democrats as Northern laborers reacted to Buchanans decision by blaming him for the decline of their industry and its unemployable workforce.
evidence 2 - tarriff
Furthermore, despite Southern tobacco and cotton levels dropping, the effects of the economic crisis were not as significant on the South as they were on that on the North. The South’s economy was protected from domestic downturns and therefore their levels returned to normal sharply. Given these circumstances, the issue of the tariff arose again. The tariff had caused sectional divides prior to the 1857 economic crisis as Southerns argued that high tariffs benefited Northern industrialists at the expense of Southern farmers. However, the tariffs were lowered as this became detrimental to the North leading up to the economic crisis. Indeed, Northerner Horace Greely argued that the depression was caused by the low tariffs that had been in place since 1846 and were lowered again in March 1857.
analysis 2
This led to the growth of the Republicans because like many Northerners, the Republicans argued that slavery was a threat to free trade and they therefore hoped to increase the 1857 duties in order to solve the economic problems. Many Northerners supported this as they were desperate for a solution to their suffering and the Democrats weren’t providing them with this.
counter analysis
However, the Northern Democrats and Southerners worked together to defeat these duties, which suggests that although the Republicans wanted to make change, they didn’t have the political leverage to do so, making Northerners less likely to support them.
evaluation
To evaluate, Northern Economic Policies were significant to the breakdown of the two-party system as Southerner James Hammond concluded from the economic problems that the Southern economy was superior to the Northern economy because they weren’t as badly affected by it as the North, suggesting that something needed to change.
