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Sectionalism (The North (Immigration (Immigrants: After 1832, there was a…
Sectionalism
The North
Immigration
Immigrants: After 1832, there was a sudden increase in the number of Europeans immigrating into the United States. The number never fell below 50,000 immigrants per year. There was a total of 4 million immigrants in the United States between the 1830s to the 1850s. Half of these (2 million) were Irish people.
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Urban Life: Between 1800 and 1850, the population of urban cities increased from 5 percent to 15 percent of the North's total population. Such crowding was followed by poor sanitation, disease, and high crime rates. Despite this, the opportunities offered by the cities continued to attract more and more people.
Organized Unions
Labor: After the industrial revolution, previously independent farmers and artisans depended on factory wages to live. Long hours, low pay, and unsafe conditions led to the creation of labor unions to improve working conditions. Organized labor had some notable victories, but improvements were still limited.
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Agriculture: corn and wheat crops proved to be profitable in the Old Northwest. Mechanical innovations such as the steel plow and the mechanical reaper made farming more efficient. Farmers required only a small amount of hired workers during the harvesting season to maintain their farms.
The West
American Indians
Mass Migration: Most American Indians lived west of the Mississippi River by 1850. This was caused by disease, battles, reluctant emigration, and being forced to move west by treaties and military actions.
The Great Plains: Horses revolutionized life for American Indians living in the Great Plains. More and more tribes became nomadic, chasing the buffalo across the plains.
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The Frontier
Mountain Men: The earliest white settlers of the frontier in the Rocky Mountains followed in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. They were isolated from the rest of society, spending their time farming and trapping for furs.They became the guides and pathfinders of future settlers.
New Opportunities: Settlers in the frontier saw the west as a chance for a new life. Even if reality was different, it was seen as a place for people of all ethnicities to have an equal opportunity at life.
White Settlers
Pioneer Life: Life as a settler was similar to that of the early colonists. They spent they're time farming and working hard. Women had many tasks: mother, doctor, teacher, cook, and chief assistant to their husbands' farms. The rigor of pioneer life resulted in short lifespans for women.
Environmental Damage: Settlers had a negative impact in the natural environment of the western frontier. They would clear entire forests and exhaust the soil quickly because of poor farming methods. Trappers and hunters almost caused the extinction of beavers and buffalo.
The South
Agricultural Economy
Slavery: Slaves were vital in running the South's economy. Some whites referred to it as "The Peculiar Institution" as a way to be more sensitive towards the subject. They worked doing whatever their owners employed them to do. Many slaves were sold from the Upper South to the Deep South where they would work in cotton plantations. Since the South could not industrialize as well as the North, they depended on slaves to yield the high profits from cotton.
Agriculture: The South was highly agricultural. The high profits of cotton and other cash crops ran the economy. These included tobacco, indigo, rice, and sugarcane. However, "King Cotton" became a term to describe the South's incredible output of cotton to the nation and the rest of the world.
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Life, Society and Culture:
Education: While college was valued by upper class southerners, most people did not receive education beyond the elementary school level. Slaves received limited or no education at all to avoid riots .
White Society: The South's aristocracy consisted of wealthy planters with at least 100 slaves and 1000 acres of land. They sat at the top of southern society. However, most farmers owned far fewer slaves and land. Three-fourths of the Southern population was poor (called "white trash." The rest were mountain people who lived isolated from the rest.
Religion: Methodist and Baptist churches gained support in the South while separating from their northern sections. This was due to their support of slavery. Other churches, such as the Unitarians, faced declining membership and hostility since they challenged slavery.
Southern Thought
"Code of Chivalry": Aristocratic Southerners believed in a code of conduct that demonstrated gentleman-ship and chivalry. This consisted of a strong sense of personal honor, the defense of womanhood, and superiority towards anyone deemed inferior than them, such as slaves.
Slave Population: The cotton boom was responsible for a huge increase in the number of slaves (1 million in 1800 to 4 million in 1860). Parts of the Deep South were made up of as much as 75% slaves. State legislatures passed laws that placed restrictions on slaves' education and movement (fearing revolts).
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Was the U.S. three separate sections during this period? While the nation's regions were distinctly different from each other in many ways, they were all part of the same whole. Each region supported the other ones, and they all followed the system of democracy established by the federal government.