The Rivalry Between the South and the North

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Although some scholars dispute the perception that slavery was one of the major causes of the American Civil war, it is evident that slavery played a critical role in the hostility between the North and South before the war (Manning, 2007). The conflict between the South’s desire to expand slavery and the North’s desire for a democratic nation is important in this case.

The South’s heavy reliance on cotton farming for its economy demanded effective supply of cheap labor, which could only be provided by the slaves. On the other hand, the northern states relied on manufacturing, which did not demand slaves (Manning, 2007).

Since many freed slaves could not find employment in the South, they were increasingly seeking refuge in the northern states, but these states were not willing to accommodate the large population of blacks.

The North increasingly criticized the “Planter Aristocracy” system in the South. Therefore, it is worth arguing that the differences in socioeconomic systems between the North and the South explain “why” and “how” slavery became the major issue during the antebellum period.

First, the cotton boom of the 19th century boosted the economy of the southern states because slaves supplied almost free labor. Cotton production was relatively labor consuming because it was not yet mechanized. From planting to harvesting and transportation, the farmers heavily relied on human labor.

Bourgeois farmers and their families owned these plantations and slave families lived in these farms. They were viewed as properties rather than American citizens. Farmers were free to sell or buy slaves. They provided housing and basic needs, but the conditions were hostile because most farmers were oppressive and brutal.

On the other hand, the northern states were increasingly shifting from plantation dependent economies to manufacturing-based economies. As manufacturing industries increased in the North, the demand for slaves reduced significantly because industries did not need slaves.

They relied on skilled labor for their processing, which attracted white workers mostly. Also, these industries created positions for skilled and knowledgeable labor, which brought the need for education. These factors were increasingly discriminating against slavery because slaves were not educated. As such, the northern states saw the need to abolish slavery, which caused great criticism from the southern states (Stampp, 2006).

Secondly, the slave issue escalated because manufacturing industries in the North increasingly reduced their reliance on cotton and other agricultural products from the South. The North had experienced an industrial boom after Eli Whitney’s invention of the mechanical cotton gin, which revolutionized the process. Also, Cyrus McCormick invented mechanical mower-reaper, which revolutionized grain production in most parts of the West (Stampp, 2006).

Moreover, the economic relationships between the West and the North increased after the establishment of the Cumberland Road, the Erie Canal, the Railroad, and the steamboat. These factors improved the transportation of agricultural products from the agricultural West to the industrial North, which further boosted the spawning of the labor system in the North.

However, these factors destroyed the relationship between the South and the North because the North was reducing its reliance on agricultural products from the South. It was clear that the South was losing its northern markets. It caused a reduction in the amounts of income the white planters were getting from their cotton. As such, free labor (slavery) was necessary for the survival of the cotton plantations.

Also, the South started accusing the North of interfering with their economic systems because black slaves were now escaping to find employment opportunities in the West or the North. As most northern states turned industrial from agricultural and the rate of urbanization increased significantly, most families moved to live close to the industries.

For the free slaves, it was better to live in these cities because the rate of discrimination in the North was lower than in the South. Since they were no longer forced to provide free labor, the blacks led free but poor lives in the North.

The northern states perhaps angered by the increase in the number of blacks from the southern states, desired to change the system in the South by any means. There was an intensive criticism of the planters’ aristocracy in the southern states.

The abolitionist movement started in the North in the 1830s and called for an immediate end of slavery. It became the dominant movement for the reform during the antebellum era. Abolitionists were convinced by two major factors – the Second Awakening that saw slavery as a sin and the inspiration by the British end of slavery in the West Indies in 1833 (Stampp, 2006).

The impact of radical abolitionism increased the tension between the North and the South during the antebellum era. This movement started after William Lloyd Garrison had published “The Liberator” Newspaper in Boston, which was considered as a militant antislavery newspaper.

The paper asked the North to secede from the union because it was “virtuous” and could not coexist with the “wicked and evil” South in the same union. Garrison’s work did not provide a practical solution for ending the evils of slavery. However, it inspired many abolitionists in establishing the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Under this society, several abolitionist writers and activists continued to accuse the southern states of expanding the evils of slavery for economic benefits. Also, they accused the northern states of doing nothing to deal with the evil South.

For instance, Theodore Dwight Weld appealed to rural farmers in the Ohio Valley with his work “American slavery as it is” published in 1939. Wendell Phillips published his “Abolition golden trumped,” which called for the immediate end of slavery. His work had a major impact on the “North versus South” politics during the era.

Most of the abolitionists were northerners, but a handful of them came from the South. By the 1830s, the southern governments supported by the white farmers had completely silenced abolitionists in their territories (Freehling, 2010). However, the continued accusations from the North made the South think that the North was perpetrating a conspiracy.

Garrison was seen as a terrorist in the South for his work, which made the South offer some $5,000 for his conviction and arrest (Stampp, 2006). Most of the abolitionists in the South faced discrimination and were sometimes whipped, jailed, or even killed. Their literature was completely banned, which further created political tensions between the two sides.

In conclusion, the issue of slavery and its expansion dominated the political and economic rivalry between the North and the South during the antebellum period. As discussed, the need for slavery was the main economic issue that divided the two regions. Ethical and religious aspects sought to explain whether slavery was good or bad, with the North taking a negative stance. Therefore, slavery remained the most important issue of the era.

References

Freehling, W. F. (2010). Prelude to Civil War: The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina, 1816–1836. New York: Oxford University Press.

Manning, C. (2007). What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War. New York: Vintage Books.

Stampp, K. M. (2006). The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South. New York: Random House.

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The Rivalry Between the South and the North – US History

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