south was more agrarian Flashcards
(5 cards)
topic sentence
Lastly, other historians such as James McPherson argue that contrary to the common economic features, the South was more agrarian that the North
evidence 1 - southern cotton
In 18502, crops produced by the South made up 3/5ths of total American exports with cotton being the country’s largest export as it made up 50% of US exports. This highlights the agrarian nature of the South because it suggests that they made a vast amount of income from producing crops, like cotton, through the labour of enslaved people. Therefore, it shows how the South and Norths economy’s were growing increasingly different because while the North was responsible for producing majority of the countries manufactured output, the South was responsible for producing most of their agricultural crops.
evidence 2 - british dependence on cotton
Furthermore, in the 1850s, Southern cotton accounted for 77% of the 800 million pounds of cotton used in Britain. This suggests that the South was more agrarian than the North because the South were exporting large quantities of crops to foreign nations and in turn this helped run their economy as they were accessing large volumes of money for this, whereas the North weren’t. On the other hand, the North were able to run their economy through their manufactured output as they produced 90% of the US manufactured output.
counter analysis
However, Alan Farmer argues, “much of the profits of ‘King Cotton’ ended up in Yankee pockets” because the South depended of Northern credit to finance the growing of tobacco, cotton and sugar and wa reliant of Northern vessels to transport them. This could weaken the argument that the North did not rely on cotton to fund their economy.
evaluation
To evaluate the South was more agrarian than the North, suggesting that there was an economic gulf between sections. As a result, this divide cause great tension between the North and South, which eventually resulted in a war, as James McPherson argues “so much in deadly conflict that they could no longer live together in the same nation”.
