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Immigration in early 1900s America
Immigration in early 1900s America
Cultural and economic changes in the antebellum era
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Other debates that struck me from learning more about the Antebellum America period in this week’s content were the issue on the differential economies between the North and the South, and the rapid flow of immigrants into the United States. Regardless on the debate of slavery, the North and the South had two completely different means of economic production. In the North, early industrialization and the rise in manufacturing fueled the economy. A population shift from farms to cities had already begun, but the promise of better income in factory jobs accelerated that movement. While in the South, the cotton economy became a rich economic prosperity. However, as the quality of land decreased from over-cultivation, land owners began looking
Within the economy a great development had been achieved when the upper south handed its power to the lower south all due to the rise of an agricultural production. This expansion was led by the excessive growth of cotton in the southern areas. It spread rapidly throughout America and especially in the South. During these times it gave another reason to keep the slavery at its all time high. Many wealthy planters started a ‘business’ by having their slaves work the cotton plantations, which this was one of a few ways slavery was still in full effect. Not only were there wealthy planters, at this time even if you were a small slave-holder you were still making money. While all of this had been put into the works, Americans had approximately 410,000 slaves move from the upper south to the ‘cotton states’. This in turn created a sale of slaves in the economy to boom throughout the Southwest. If there is a question as to ‘why’, then lets break it d...
The Confederacy’s agrarian economy contrasted with the Union’s industrial society in ways that ultimately became handicaps during the war. During the first half of the nineteenth century, while the North
During the American Revolution and the civil war, the North and the South experienced development of different socio-political and cultural environmental conditions. The North became an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse as a result of rise of movements like abolitionism and women’s right while the South became a cotton kingdom whose labor was sourced from slavery (Spark notes, 2011).
The North and South were forming completely different economies, and therefore completely different geographies, from one another during the period of the Industrial Revolution and right before the Civil War. The North’s economy was based mainly upon industrialization from the formation of the American System, which was producing large quantities of goods in factories. The North was becoming much more urbanized due to factories being located in cities, near the major railroad systems for transportation of the goods, along with the movement of large groups of factory workers to the cities to be closer to their jobs. With the North’s increased rate of job opportunities, many different people of different ethnic groups and classes ended up working together. This ignited the demise of the North’s social order. The South was not as rapidly urbanizing as the North, and therefore social order was still in existence; the South’s economy was based upon the production of cotton after Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. Large cotton plantations’ production made up the bulk of America’s...
Slavery allowed the American economy to flourish for over 300 years. It allowed many Southern states to grow at a furious pace without significantly diversifying their economy. The South relied on the harvesting of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, which were very labor intensive. Without much cheap labor, slaves were relied on to harvest the crops; this provided enormous value to farmers and plantation owners in the region. However, the institution of slavery was challenged in the 18th century by decades of Enlightenment thought, newfound religious ideals, and larger abolitionist groups. After the American Revolution many states would ban the practice of slavery completely and only a few would maintain the “peculiar institution”.
The years after the civil war left one half of America, the north, satisfied and the other half, the south, mostly dissatisfied. Therefore the last third of the nineteenth century, 1865-1900, was a time period in which America was mending, repairing, improving, reshaping, and reconstructing its society, economy, culture, and policies. Basically it was changing everything it stood for. This continual change can be seen in the following events that took place during this time. These events are both causes and effects of why America is what it is today. These are some examples: the reconstruction of the south, the great movement towards the west, the agricultural revolution, the rise of industrialism, the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and America's growth to gaining world power. All of these are reasons and events that characterize America as being an ever-changing nation.
By 1860 Southern states provided 2/3 of the United States cotton supply and about 80% of European cotton, in order to provide for European Cotton Mill expansion (lecture: 11/13/15). Before the Civil War, there were about 800,000 to 3.2 million slaves in order to keep up with this increasing demand for agriculture. The ending of the Civil War not only meant supposed freedom for blacks in the South, but it also meant a huge loss for southern plantation owners’ unpaid labor force. A southern planter elaborates the change in the labor force through a letter to his brother by telling him that “labour is all to hire” and that “expenses are very heavy” for the people hired to work the land (Valley of the Shadow: D. V. Gilkeson to Gilkeson's brother). A new system needed to be created in order to help both the plantation owners seeking labor and former slaves seeking jobs. This is where sharecropping came into play. Sharecropping was a system in which the owners of the lands would rent it out to laborers who would plant crops on it but who had to give the landowner a portion of the crop at the end of the year. However, there were many problems with this system that kept most of the laborers in debt year after year. Henry Blake, a former slave, experienced first hand the issues that came with reconstruction and the birth of
With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let alone, if they had a hard time producing goods, the gains would be extremely unprofitable. While in the North, “In 1837, John Deere patented a strong, smooth steel plow that sliced through prairie soil so cleanly that farmers called it the “singing plow.” (PG 281).” Deere’s company became the leading source to saving time and energy for farming as it breaks much more ground to plant more crops. As well as mechanical reapers, which then could harvest twelve acres a day can double the corn and wheat. The North was becoming more advanced by the second. Many moved in the cities where they would work in factories, which contributed to the nation’s economic growth because factory workers actually produced twice as much of labor as agricultural workers. Steam engines would be a source of energy and while coal was cutting prices in half actually created more factories, railroads for transportation, and ships which also gave a rise in agricultural productivity.
The Southwest was an area of opportunity for commerce in the expansion of the United States, mostly due to the rising demand of cotton and sugar that was fertile in the area and the . The demand for indigo and tobacco was slowly declining as resources were being depleted. The newly claimed territories needed to be “civilized” by Jeffersonian means, Rothman stated, “It demanded the transformation of the western ‘wilderness’ into a commercially oriented agricultural society, which involved a broad policy to convert the western lands into saleable property and encourage widespread landownership.” (Rothman p. 38) The U.S. government got further involved with populating the Deep South with the Land Ordinance of 1785, “The national government established several commissions to confirm the validity of extant titles and to protect against fraudulent engrossment of land.” (Rothman p. 40) Jeffersonians firmly believed that the development of citizen militias with the growing population would develop stronger boarders while inciting patriotism amongst the people. Over time the foreign demand for cotton grew, “Planters in the Deep South had the satisfaction of seeing the value of their foreign exports—mostly cotton—more than double between 1804 and 1807, from about $1.7 million to more than $4.3 million.” (Rothman p. 47) This was a strong staple crop for a sense of capitalism through the textile industry in Great Britain and Northeast United States. In addition, the domestic demand for slaves went up as well increasing the population of the Deep South and further showing the impact of the 3/5th Compromise, “The rising cotton economy generated a brisk demand for slaves among the farmers of the Deep South…. The slave population of the Mississippi Territory in the first decade of the nineteenth century, from 3,499 slaves in 1801
When President Lincoln declared the slaves in the rebelling states free in his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and the freeing of slaves ensued, the South was thrown into a period of economic difficulty (Slavin, 2001). Due to their agriculturally centralized, slavery-dependent economic system, the South experienced economic downfalls as they lost their workers and the production of crops in turn declined (Engerman, 1982). In addition to their decreased production, slaveowners’ economic issues were furthered by the lack of compensation for the slaves that they had lost because of the emancipation (Engerman, 1982). In a society of free laborers in an agricultural system and no large manufacturing capabilities, the Southern economy was troubled
The Antebellum Period in American history is, for the most part, thought to be the period before the civil war and after the War of 1812, though a few historians claim it extended to every one of the years from the appropriation of the Constitution in 1789 to the start of the Civil War. It was depicted by the ascent of abrogation and the continuous polarization of the nation amongst abolitionists and supporters of slavery. Within this same time, the nation's economy started moving in the north to assembling as the Industrial Revolution started, while in the south, a cotton blast made manors the focal point of the economy. There was a tremendous impact of western expansion on the social, political and economic development of the United States during the Antebellum Period because of the fortification of American independence and of Manifest Destiny; the possibility that Americans and the establishments of the U.S. are ethically better and Americans are ethically committed than spread these foundations.
When looking at economic factors in the Civil War, we find that the war had a devastating effect on the South and a converse effect on the North. Because of the Northern blockade and the disconnection of Southern farmers from markets in the North, sales of cotton became nearly impossible. In the North, the war produced the same suffering as in the South, but "it also produced prosperity and economic growth by giving a major stimulus to both industry and agriculture," says Brinkley (Brinkley 384). Since all Southern products were out of reach for Northern Americans, the North enacted a completely natio...
Many people see history as a set of facts, or as a collection of stories. The reality, however, is that history is a fluid timeline. Each act of an individual or a group has an effect on others. Each moment in history is a building block that, good or bad, contributes to the stability of the next. This can be seen clearly in American history, as there have been several developments since the 1800’s that have played major roles on the growth of the nation.
The American Civil War was the bloodiest military conflict in American history leaving over 500 thousand dead and over 300 thousand wounded (Roark 543-543). One might ask, what caused such internal tension within the most powerful nation in the world? During the nineteenth century, America was an infant nation, but toppling the entire world with its social, political, and economic innovations. In addition, immigrants were migrating from their native land to live the American dream (Roark 405-407). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousand African slaves were being traded in the domestic slave trade throughout the American south. Separated from their family, living in inhumane conditions, and working countless hours for days straight, the issue of slavery was the core of the Civil War (Roark 493-494). The North’s growing dissent for slavery and the South’s dependence on slavery is the reason why the Civil War was an inevitable conflict. Throughout this essay we will discuss the issue of slavery, states’ rights, American expansion into western territories, economic differences and its effect on the inevitable Civil War.
Everyone always talks about the early America, how it started the thinking of people today. Throughout this report you will understand more about early America.