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Chapter 9 – Sectionalism, 1820-1860. The North. The Northeast (New England the Mid-Atlantic states) and the Old Northwest (Ohio to Minnesota) were bound together by transportation routes This section experienced rapid economic growth based on commercial farming and industry
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The North • The Northeast (New England the Mid-Atlantic states) and the Old Northwest (Ohio to Minnesota) were bound together by transportation routes • This section experienced rapid economic growth based on commercial farming and industry • Most populous section of the US due to high birth rates and immigration
The Industrial Northeast • Industry was originally centered in the textile industry • By the 1830s, northern factories were producing everything from tools to clocks to shoes
The Northeast • Workers became dependent on wages earned in factories • Low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions led to the organization of labor unions
The Northeast • During the 1840s and 1850s, most states in the North passed laws establishing a 10-hour work day • Other improvements continued to be limited by: • Periodic depressions (economic) • Employers and courts that were hostile to unions • An abundant supply of cheap immigrant labor
The Northeast • As the population grew, so did the slums • Crowded housing, poor sanitation, infectious diseases, and high crime rates • Nevertheless, new opportunities in the factories continued to attract Americans from farms and immigrants from Europe
The Agricultural Northwest • By the 1850s, this region was closely tied to the other northern states because of: • Military campaigns by federal troops that drove American Indians from the land • The building of canals and railroads that established common markets between the Great Lakes and the East Coast
The Northwest • Crops of corn and wheat were very profitable • New inventions: • Steel plow [John Deere] • Mechanical Reaper [Cyrus McCormick] • Led to more efficiency and farms planting more acres, only needing a few hired hands at harvest • Part of crop used to feed cattle and hogs, grain for whiskey and beer • Grain shipped to cities to avoid spoilage
Free African Americans in North • 250,000 = 1 percent of northerners (1860) • Represented 50 percent of all free African Americans • Could maintain a family & in some cases own land • No political (could not vote) or economic equality • Immigrants displaced them from jobs they had held since American Revolution in mid-1800s • Denied membership in unions; often hired as strikebreakers & then dismissed after strike ended
Immigration • 1830s through 1850s, nearly 4 million people from northern Europe arrived by ship in the seacoast cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia • Immigration surge the result of: • Inexpensive and relatively rapid ocean transportation • Famines and revolutions in Europe • Growing reputation of US offering economic opportunities and political freedom • Immigration strengthened US economy by: • Providing a steady stream of cheap labor • Increased demand for mass-produced consumer goods
Immigration • Half of all immigrants [2 million] were from Ireland • 1845-1852 – Irish Potato Famine • Faced discrimination because of their Roman Catholic religion • Hard workers who competed with African Americans for domestic and unskilled jobs • Many entered local politics, joined the Democratic Party [which had long traditions of anti-British feelings and support for workers]
Immigration • Germans = more than 1 million sought refuge from economic hardship / political problems in U.S. in 1840s and 1850s • Most skilled in farming or a trade • Moved westward in search of cheap, fertile, farmland • As became more active in public life, many supported public education & strongly opposed slavery
Immigrants • Many native-born Americans were alarmed by the influx of immigrants, fearing the immigrants would take their jobs • These nativists were Protestants who distrusted the Roman Catholicism practiced by the Irish and many of the Germans • The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner was a secret anti-foreign society created in opposition to immigration
The South • Agriculture was the foundation of the Southern economy • Tobacco, rice and sugarcane were important cash crops, but the chief economic activity was the production and sale of cotton
The South • Mechanized mills coupled with the cotton gin made cloth affordable throughout the world • Before 1860, the world depended on Britain’s mills for its supply of cloth, and Britain depended on the South for its supply of cotton fiber • New land was constantly needed, as the high cotton yields required for profits quickly depleted the soil • By the 1850s, cotton was 2/3 of all US exports • “Cotton is King”
The South • The cotton boom was responsible for a fourfold increase in the number of slaves, from 1 million in 1800 to nearly 4 million in 1860 • In parts of the Deep South, slaves made up as much as 75% of the total population • Fearing slave revolts, southern legislators added increased restrictions on movement and education to their slave codes
The South • Conditions of slavery varied from one plantation to the next • Some were humanely treated, while others were routinely beaten • All suffered from being deprived of their freedom • Families were separated • Women were vulnerable to sexual exploitation • However, slaves maintained a strong sense of family and religious faith
The South • Slaves contested their status through work slowdowns, sabotage and escape • 1822 – Uprising led by Denmark Vesey • 1831 – Uprising led by Nat turner • The results were quickly and violently suppressed • However, the uprisings gave slaves hope, drove southern states to tighten already strict slave codes, and demonstrated to many the evils of slavery
The South • Wealth in the South was measured in terms of land and slaves • Whites observed a strict hierarchy with aristocratic planters at the top and poor farmers/mountain people at the bottom • Planter aristocracy – owned at least 100 slaves and 1,000 acres. They maintained their power by dominating the southern legislatures and enacting laws that favored their economic interests
The South • Poor Whites – ¾ of the South’s population who owned no slaves and could not afford rich river-bottom farmland. Instead lived in the hills as subsistence farmers. These “hillbillies” defended slavery hoping that one day they could own slaves and profit
Free African Americans in South • By 1860, approx. 250,000 African Americans in South were not slaves; some mixed children whose white fathers had freed them & some were freed during the American Revolution • Most lived in cities where could own property • Not allowed to vote & banned from certain jobs • Constantly in danger of being kidnapped by slave traders, so had to carry legal papers proving their free status with them • Some stayed in South to be near family members who were still slaves; others believed the South was their home & North offered no greater opportunities (also had racial prejudice that restricted their liberties)
The South • Developed a unique culture and outlook on life • Slavery was the focus of political thought • Largely a feudal society where the planter elite followed a code of conduct including a strong sense of honor, the defense of womanhood, and paternalistic attitudes toward all who were deemed inferior, especially slaves (wanted to control their lives / make decisions for them)
The South • Education was valued by the upper class • Accepted professions: farming, law, ministry, and the military • Lower classes did not have education available past the early elementary grades • Slaves were strictly prohibited by law from receiving any instruction in reading or writing • This was done to reduce the risk of rebellion
The West • By 1850, most American Indians were living west of the Mississippi River • Those to the east had either been killed by disease, died in battles, emigrated reluctantly, or had been forced to leave their land by treaty or military action
The West • In the Great Plains, the horse allowed tribes like the Sioux and Cheyenne to become hunters following the buffalo • They could easily move away from advancing settlers or try to oppose them by force
The West • The West represented the possibility of a fresh start for those willing to venture there • It became a place promising greater freedom for all ethnic groups: American Indians, African Americans, European Americans, and eventually Asian Americans
The West • Daily life for white settlers consisted of hard work from sunrise to sunset • Lived in log cabins, sod huts, or other improvised shelters • Disease and malnutrition were great dangers • Often lived many miles from the nearest neighbor • Isolation, endless work, and rigors of childbirth resulted in a short lifespan for women