What did the North and South have in common during the Civil War?
Both sides had poor medical care. Both sides wanted more land. Both sides grew in their weapons. Both sides only allow men to join the army.
What was Southern society like before the Civil War?
During the three decades before the Civil War, popular writers created a stereotype, now known as the plantation legend, that described the South as a land of aristocratic planters, beautiful southern belles, poor white trash, faithful household slaves, and superstitious fieldhands.
How rich was the South before the Civil War?
Rather, though inequality of wealth was somewhat more prevalent in the South than in the North, the Southern states were far wealthier on a per capita basis—on an order of two to one. The wealth of the average Northerner in 1860 was $546.24; of the average free Southerner, $1,042.74.
What were the major differences between the northern and southern economies by the 1850s?
The northern economy relied on manufacturing and the agricultural southern economy depended on the production of cotton. The desire of southerners for unpaid workers to pick the valuable cotton strengthened their need for slavery.
What was slavery like before the Civil War?
During and before the war, enslaved people played an active role in their own emancipation, and thousands of enslaved people escaped from bondage during the war. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, making 3 million blacks legally free.
Is the South the poorest region?
As of 2016, the South accounted for 38% of the U.S. population, yet 42% of all Americans living under the official poverty line (Semega, Fontenot, and Kollar 2017). The South has the highest official poverty rate among regions (14.1%) (Semega et al. 2017), and a higher rate of relative poverty (20%)2.
How did the South defended slavery?
At the same time, southern intellectuals began to defend slavery as a positive factor. After 1830, white Southerners stopped referring to slavery as a necessary evil. Instead, they argued that it was a beneficial institution that created a hierarchical society superior to the leveling democracy of the North.
What were the differences between the North and South before the Civil War?
The North wanted the new states to be “free states.” Most northerners thought that slavery was wrong and many northern states had outlawed slavery. The South, however, wanted the new states to be “slave states.” Cotton, rice, and tobacco were very hard on the southern soil.