North And South Analysis

The North and South emerged as two distinct regions because they had various differences. Despite being part of the same country as a whole, the North and the South were opposites both culturally and in several other ways. As mentioned in “The American Journey” by Glencoe, these differences included the geography, economy, society, and transportation system.
One of the most striking differences between the North and South was the climate and geography. In the North, there was not an abundance of fertile soil, so the economy turned to industry. This allowed for the use of “coal and iron from nearby Pennsylvania” which helped its growing industry. “New England also had many ports,” aiding the trade relationship between the North and South, and
The North’s population consisted of immigrants from Ireland and Germany around the mid 1800s (Chapter 8). These people “brought their languages, customs, religions, and ways of life with them, some of which became part of American culture” as states in Section 3 of the same chapter. When this integrated into the North’s culture, societies formed relating specifically to language, religion, and music. In the South, however, occupants were mostly small white farmers, some large plantation owners, and some free African Americans. Yeomen and tenant farmers fell under the category of small farmers. Due to the large plantation owners, slaves also made up part of the population. Also, there were free African Americans that formed their own communities in Southern cities. Some prospered there, while others “were denied an equal share in economic and political life” as said in Section 2 of Chapter
Transportation was more integrated into life in the North than it was in the South, which affected the population in the region. Transportation increased the census, number of trade cities, and amount of prosperous towns. The North began building many systems of transportation like roads and canals. “In 1806 Congress approved funds for a National Road to the West…” (Chapter 8). It connected Ohio to states in the East. Moreover, rivers were used for travel, although they did pose some issues. They included the natural flow of rivers went north to south instead of the preferred direction of travel, from east to west for immigration as pointed out in the same Section of Chapter 8. For those who did want to use rivers, traveling upstream was difficult, so the invention of the steamboat came to be thanks to Robert Fulton. Because waterways were a faster than wagons, canals were created to work in the people’s favor. The Erie Canal was built to connect “the East and the Midwest…” Also stated in Chapter 8, Section 2, canals like this “lowered the cost of shipping goods and brought prosperity to the towns long their routes…. Perhaps most important, they helped unite the growing country.” This explains the importance of canals and their effect on the country. They provided alternate options for immigrants and offered trade opportunities that wouldn’t have otherwise happened. Very different in