Society of the 1800's

Society of the 1800’s During the 1800’s there were three prominent cultures that could be found within Antebellum or Pre-Civil War America. These cultures include the North, South, and the Southern Black or Slave culture. These societies differed in many ways, some to an extreme degree. The Northern culture is the closest to the modern day America that we know as it was the most progressive culture. The Southern culture was extremely elitist and intolerant of social reform not benefiting the slave economy. The Slave culture was largely controlled by the Southern culture.
The Northern culture the most progressive society at the time, however, the culture was still extremely narrow minded by today’s standards. An example of this is that poverty was feminized. If a woman was poor she was viewed as a single mother who made poor choices. This was done to alleviate the guilt and anxiety of the middle class as they had rather high expectations for success. There is little to no savings in the middle class as they are barely making enough money to live. This makes the lower class a threat as the middle class needs to control as much wealth and power as possible. About 45% of the lower class in the North were unskilled. Many of them worked in factories where the working conditions were not adequate.

This meant that the lower class also had a shorter lifespan. The cities of the North, filled with death and disease, were unplanned and dangerous. However, many jobs are existing here. The Northern political views were strictly Democratic. They believed that all men should have a voice in government. They also believed in universal male suffrage. The Southern White culture was a very narrow minded one. Some southerners, also known as Fire Eaters, wanted to expand slavery to Mexico, Central America, Dominicana, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. The Fire Eaters made up 30% of the white population in the south. Most of these Fire Eaters came from the deep south in places such as