What were the major differences between the North and South in the 1850s?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

By the 1850s, the United States had two distinct economies: the agricultural economy of the South, which was based on cotton, and the industrial economy of the North. The industrial North had a well-developed infrastructure, including roads and railroads, while the South's infrastructure was relatively undeveloped. Raw materials were grown in the South, but their processing occurred in the North. The high profit margins and relatively low cost of U.S. cotton at this time was a result of the free labor provided by slaves, so the Southern economy was dependent on the institution of slavery. In the North, developments in production and transportation grew industries, which were fueled by immigrant labor. As a result of these two different economies and the different societies they created, Northern and Southern interests overlapped less and less.