Rivalry Between North and South in America

Ever since independence in the late nineteenth century, the northern and southern states differed from each other in their attitude to the Federal Union which had brought them together. Broadly speaking, the southern states wanted freedom from interference by the Federal Government. The northern states wanted a strong central government. Although slavery was the central issue which separated the two sides, there were many others differences as well. These include;

1.Economic difference, The North had 8 per cent of the industries of the United States. It was dominated by manufacturing and trading interest. The industries of New England and New York ere rapidly expanding in the early nineteenth century.

Accordingly, they needed all the labour they could get. This is why they opposed the settlement of the West, since it drew off potential workers from their factories. Shortage of labour meant higher wages. They wanted the people who bought their manufactures to be concentrated in the north-east near their factories. The West drew away customers.

The South, by contrast, was overwhelming agricultural. In particular, ‘King Catton’ ruled in the south, together with tobacco. Cotton was grown on large plantations in the warm, humid lands of the and Georgia. The plantation owners were all in favour of expanding westwards, to enable new plantation to be developed on the fertile soils of the Mississippi valley. The labour problem did not bother them, since they had their own slaves. High wages were not a problem.

The manufactures of the North wanted the Federal Government to set high tariffs on imported manufactured goods. In order to protect their industries and prevent cheaper foreign imports undercutting their free prices. The plantation owner of the South wanted free trade. High tariffs on imports would only encourage foreign countries to put high tariffs on American exports- and the cotton growers thrived on exports.

High tariffs also put prices up to home, since foreign goods were dearer. The southerner wanted to keep prices as low s possible. The plantation slave-owner had no wages to pay buut he had to feed and clothe and house his slaves. The northern manufacturer, on the other hand, obviously wanted to keep prices high.;

When high tariffs were imposed in 1816 and even higher in 1828, there was much opposition in the South. This came to a head in 1833 when South Carolina refused to accept the tariff and ordered its people not to pay. President Andrew Jackson right to collect the tariff by force if need be. South states for its policy of Nullification as it was called and eventually agreed to compromise.

2. Social Differences, The North was free, the South was not. The slave trade had been abolished in 1807 but population grow caused members to grow rapidly. By the time of the Civil War, almost all the slave had been born into captivity. In 1807 there were just over a million slaves. By 1860 there were four million.

3.Political differences, Southerners were always fearful that free soil state of the north (where slavery was illegal) would eventually outvote the slave-owning state of the South. When that happened they would be able to amend the American constitution and abolish slavery. Resentment at the other ways in which the northern states tried to keep their interest paramount aggravated the situation.

This was why southern politicians fought hard to preserve the individual rights of the separate state against the Federal Government. They fought tooth and nail to ensure that as many new slave state were admitted to the Union as free soil states.  Each states, however small, could send two senators to congress, but only when third of the senators voted in favour, could the constitution be amended.