Insight: Sectional Divisions Arise (Chapter 4)

            A nation will grow to a point in which sections start to become noticeable. Sections being defined as regions distinguished from one another by economic and cultural differences – in America, these were the North and the South. The north was made of the Northeast and the Old Northwest, while the South had no inner divisions.

            The Old Northwest was very large on farming, mainly crops and animals and their byproducts – however, they also created products such as whiskey.  The market for these products expanded thanks to river transportation to New Orleans and the Caribbean and the Eastern United States, and grew even more when canals were created. In the Northeast people were divided between those who still lived on farms and those who had gone to seek a job. This included women, who usually worked on windmills for they could be persuaded to work for half of the pay that a man would usually receive – a chauvinistic deal that they ignored happily, for they were earning their own money before being wed.

 Cities in the Northeast and Northwest developed due to the desire for jobs, a lot of migration took place. These cities, due to overcrowding, were lacking in sanitation and life conditions. Furthermore, those who did find jobs clashed with the owners of factories, for capitalism overshadowed the workers’ rights – leading to strikes and revolts.

The South’s primary products were cotton, tobacco, sugar, rice, and slaves. They did not develop as many towns and industries as the Northern colonies did, the region remained one of farms and open rural areas. They did have a small number of cities, however, which were rather large as the northern cities.

The slavery system supplied the labor for most of the crops in the South. Most of the enslaved African Americans lived on the plantations they worked on. Life for them was harsh, treatment was unfair – women had to withstand rape, abuse, taking care of their children, and giving birth; all while attempting to please their owners. Slavery was based on economics, owners exploited slaves to get work done, it was property that performed labor. Sometimes slaves would rebel, but most resistance consisted of small rebellions in daily routines. This slave system is a major separation between the North and the South.

            The sectional division between the North and the South and whatever sections existed between them is still relevant today. For it set the pace of development in which they would be stuck in, results of which are visible in present terms.

Slavers were an economic acquisition for land/plantation owners.