Q: Could you please elaborate on that?
A: The affects of the industrial revolution were now surfacing, but mostly in the North. While both the South and the North had factories the North had an exceedingly larger amount of industrial manufacturing in comparison. The South was found to have about 25 % of the country's free population, but only 10% of the country's capital in the year of 1860. In contrast, the North had five times the number of factories as the South as well as over ten times the number of factory workers in their possession (Economics and the Civil War).
Q: Was that the only difference?
A: No, another economic difference was the variation in the type of workforce. The North included 90% of the nation's skilled workers. The workers were active and mobile and labor was expensive. Due to the increase in immigration from Europe and Asia there was competition in the workforce which resulted in the wages being at a standstill and not increasing at a fast rate. In the South the economy relied on slavery with its workers being forced and oppressed to provide cheap labor (Economics and the Civil War).
Q: Speaking of that, how much did the different views of slavery in relation to the economy contribute to the conflict?
A: Yes, that is a very good question. In the end the largest difference in economic strategy was that of slavery verses no slavery. The South interpreted the constitution to mean that all men were equal excluding African Americans. Therefore, when the North abolished slavery the South felt that there people and ways of economic survival were threatened (EH.Net Encyclopedia: Economics of the Civil War).
Q: But why could these two economies not exist at the same time without conflict?
A: The people felt that in order to be prosperous they must work together as one and that included the idea of having the same economic system. The country divided itself into North and South by definition of each individual states economy. Soon enough both sides realized that as Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or all the other” (Norton, Roger).
Q: But why would a simple difference in economies trigger such a catastrophic war?
A: The thing is to the people of this time the economic variations were something that could not be avoided or shoved in the background. As soon as they realized that they were on paths of creating a successful nation by different means they sought change through war. It troubled the South that the North was industrialized while they stayed in the farming era. By moving forward with industry and non-slave labor the North put out he message that they were against the South’s way of maintaining a successful economy. When a states economy is threatened craziness pursues. Money meant everything to the Southern states so when the North was found to be more successful through means of industry the South was automatically against them (EH.Net Encyclopedia: Economics of the Civil War).
Q: How did tariffs add to the economic differences that led to the war?
A: First off, Tariffs created money for the government by creating taxes on imported goods. What was problematic was the fact that the North supported tariffs while the South opposed them. The North hoped that tariffs were raised so that Americans would buy Northern goods rather than buy expensive imports. But the South, for the most part, felt they would be negatively affected by tariffs because it would be more costly for them to buy the goods they needed. Tariffs were just another reason for separation and war (Economics and the Civil War).
In conclusion, there were many economic factors that contributed to the separation of the United States and thus the Civil War. Slavery and cultural differences played a large role in the creation of the war but only in relation to the Northern and Southern economic systems.
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Closing Argument (Patrick Finnegan)
- Introduction
- Thank my colleagues
- Thank the ladies and gentlemen of the courtroom for their careful attention to the issue
- Summation of arguments- Thesis: The North and South were divided primarily by issues regarding slavery, tariffs and differences in industry.
- Slavery: The Southern economies were built on the labor of African American slaves. North was against slavery, South was for it. The south depended on slaves to produce cotton.
- Tariffs: Tariffs were taxes placed on imported goods, the money from which would go to the government. Southerners generally favored low tariffs while the North because this kept the cost of imported goods low, which was important in the South's import-oriented economy.
- Industry: The industries of the North and South contrasted one another. Following the American Revolution, the North felt more of the affects of Europe’s Industrial Revolution, while Southern economies stayed more agricultural oriented as they produced cash crops like cotton (What Caused the American Civil War?).
- Summation of the evidence presented by Professor Davis
- Slavery: The South had an economy based on agriculture by means of slave labor. On the other hand, the North had an industrial economy that depended on the working class for their success as they found slavery illegal (Economics and the Civil War).
- Tariffs: Southerners felt tariffs were unfair and aimed toward them because they imported a wider variety of goods than most Northern people. While the Northern States favored tariffs because they encouraged The Union to buy American, and not European.
- Industry: The vast majority of industrial manufacturing was taking place in the North. The South had almost 25% of the country's free population, but only ten percent of the country's capital in 1860. The North had five times the number of factories as the South, and over ten times the number of factory workers. In addition, 90% of the nation's skilled workers were in the North (Economics and the Civil War).
- Statement of significance
- Because of the industrial movements made in the Northern States after the American Revolution, the Nation became divided. Divided on the views of slavery, tariffs, and industry, which were defined by the very economies of Northern and Southern states. As Abe Lincoln said, “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or all the other.” And in the nation’s attempt to: establish or abolish slavery, regulate tariffs, and create industries that could coexist with one another, our nation became divided in a political and physical Civil War. Leading me to why we are gathered here today in this courtroom, I will no doubt find the economic differences of the Northern and Southern States guilty for causing the Civil War!
- Cross-examination Questions
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Slavery- Slavery is a guilty cause to the civil war. However, do you agree that the Southern economies were formulated around slave labor, making the issue of slavery detrimental to the economy?
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Culture- What defines culture? The jobs in an area bring and establish culture, the urban sprawl caused by the types of work found in the North and the South is the leading cause of the Civil War.
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Election of Abe Lincoln- What was Abe Lincoln’s platform that caused him to be elected?
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State’s Rights- “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or all the other.” Many politicians believed that federal rights preceded state’s rights, in a nation that is defined by it’s very economy, how can our determination to create a singularity reflect upon the state’s rights?
- Works Cited
"American Experience | The Time of the Lincolns | A Rising Nation." PBS. 2000. Web.
09 Feb. 2010.<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/map_agind_text .html>.
"Economics and the Civil War." American History and World History at
Historycentral.com the largest and most complete history site on the web. Historycenter.com. Web. 09 Feb. 2010. <http://www.historycentral.com /CivilWar/ AMERICA/Economics.html>.
"EH.Net Encyclopedia: Economics of the Civil War." EH.Net | Economic History
Services. 24 Aug. 2001. Web. 09 Feb. 2010. <http://eh.net/encyclopedia/ar
ticle/ransom.civil.war.us>.
Norton, Roger."A Collection of Abraham Lincoln Quotes." PERSONAL WEB PAGES –
home.att.net. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2010. <http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78. `html>.
“What Caused the American Civil War?” National Park Service, 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <http://americancivilwar.com/kids_zone/causes.html>.