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Slavery in the North Failed Because of Its Economic Structure

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Slavery in the North Failed Because of Its Economic Structure
Introduction: Slavery was a disgraceful part of our history for many years. Its start grew from a need for a labor source in the new and growing America. The Southern economy thrived from slave labor whereas the North did not rely on the labor of slaves. This paper will prove that slavery failed in the North because in the North there was no need for large labor to support the economic structure compared to the South where slavery was needed to support their economy. There are three main points that will be used to support this. They are; Northern industry and Southern industry were very different, the slave population was smaller in the North because of the different economy in the North, and the smaller slave population and less need for slavery in the North led the North to abolish slavery before the South.
Northern industry and Southern industry were very different: The Northern and Southern industry were two very different industries. The northern states include Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. In these states, the major economic industry was fishing, whale products, timber and wheat products (Aboukhadijeh, 2013) . These industries did not require a large labor source. The Southern states would be Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. In the Southern states, the major economic industry was tobacco, wheat, indigo and rice (Aboukhadijeh, 2013). According to the U. S. Census, the population of the United States in 1860 was approximately 31,443,321. Approximately 23,000,000 were from the North and 9,000,000 were from the South. Out of the 9,000,000 population from the South, 3,500,000 were slaves. In the North, money was made from manufacturing and industry. The North produced 75% of the nation’s wealth. In the South, there was not much manufacturing. Instead, most of the people were farmers. Money in the South came from agricultural crops,



Bibliography: Aboukhadijeh, Feross. "Colonial Life" StudyNotes.org. StudyNotes, Inc., 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. . Bankston, Carl, III & Hidalgo, Danielle. “History of US Immigration.” Salem’s Press. 2006. Web.10 Mar 2013. . Garcia, C. “The Antislavery Movement.” Slavery in the Western Hemisphere. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2013 . Hornsboy, Alton. "Slavery and Servitude." Concord Learning Systems. (2000): n. page. Print. . Independence Hall Association. “The Southern Argument for Slavery.” U.S. History. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . PBS.org. “Growth and Entrenchment of Slavery”. Africans in America. 2013. Web 13 Apr. 2012. . Popular Forest. “Jefferson’s Views on Slavery.” Thomas Jefferson: Popular Forest. 2013. Web 2 Mar. 2013. http://www.poplarforest.org/jefferson/plantation-life/jeffersons-views. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation. “Thomas Jefferson and Slavery.” Jefferson Monticello. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. .

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