Antebellum North Vs Antebellum South

During the Antebellum period, the North and South were divided into two sections. Antebellum Northerners were attempting to modernize the economy in the North while in the south the plantation complex was the economic form.
The antebellum North and Antebellum South were more different due to the way they felt about slavery. The North and South differed greatly in how they wanted the newly admitted states to be during Westward expansion. The North opposed slavery, so after the Mexican-American War when Texas became a slave state, the North wanted a free state to be “even,” which is what Oregon was. Contrastingly to the North, the South wanted the new states to be admitted as slave states, and this caused territorial slavery which threatened
The northerners did not want slavery in the North because they believed that it did not fit into the Republic. The antebellum northerners believed in the idea of free labor, which is the belief that the labor should be non-slave labor and that no one should be forced into it. (11/8) The northerners were also afraid that the slaveholders had too much power (slave power conspiracy) and wanted to stop slavery to prevent slaveholders from gaining any more power. Contrastingly, the southerners believed that slavery protected the republic. The slaveholders in the South had this mindset of “paternalism,” which is the idea that the slaveholders are acting like “fathers” to the slaves for their own good. For example, in “Incidents In the Life of A Slave Girl,” the author describes an encounter with her master when she says, “Did I not take you into the house, and make you the companion of my own children….I have never allowed you to be punished, not even to please your mistress.” (Harriet Jacobs). This is important because it corresponds to the idea that the slaveholder or “master” thinks that he is benefiting the slave when in reality they are still slaveholders making the slaves lives