Hostility Between South and North

North and South: Different in Economy and in Culture It has been said that hostility between the North and South reflected the difference between two different cultures, not between two different economic systems. This statement, however, is only partially true. The North and the South did have different cultures -- and they also had different economic systems. The South had an agricultural economy that consisted mainly of cash crops of tobacco and cotton. These were exported and in this manner the South did well for itself.

The Northern economy was mainly industrial but also consisted of smaller farms that were not primarily cash crops but rather produce for the homestead. The South's focus on cash cropping created a problem for the Confederacy during the War, especially when Southern ports were blockaded by the Union. Exports could not be delivered to foreign countries, which meant that income could not be collected. Thus, the Southern economy was crippled. Economic collapse was not unexpected, however.

Because of the limited nature of the Southern economy, many commentators were shocked that the South was able to sustain itself for as long as it did. After all, its economy was wholly dependent on exporting its cash crops. The Northern economy was aided by well-linked railroad lines, which enabled food and goods to be shipped from state to state more easily than in the South. In the South, the railroads were more or less independent of one another and not so well connected.

This interconnectedness was a great benefit to the Northern economy, which was industry-based. Because of its base, the Northern economy was much more equipped to fight a sustained war. The North was also the main seat of the nation's banking institutions. The fact that the main banking entity of the South was located in the North did not bode well for the Confederacy.

Small, independent banks in the South issued paper currency and by this action tried to compensate for the loss of the financial capital during the War, but Southerners were reluctant to accept the War currency as there was no guarantee that the receipts were backed by gold. The South suffered from terrible inflation as a result. The North also printed money with the promise that it would be backed by both gold and bonds. When the government needed still more money it instituted the income tax.

Thus, the North laid the foundations for the future Internal Revenue Service. The South had no means of collecting a federal tax, for their Constitution afforded the Confederate States no such right. For that matter, neither did the Constitution of the Union. But what the Constitution of the Union stated never stopped the Union government from doing what it wanted. This sense of overstepping the Constitution was a main cause of hostility between the North and the South.

The two did differ culturally as well, which was another reason for hostility. For example, the North was much more densely populated with persons of varying ethnicities. It was also more densely populated. 71% of all Americans lived in the North. Virtually all steel production was done in the North. Northerners were businessmen and Republicans who believed in science, technology and modern education. Southerners tended to be less "educated," their time spent mainly on large plantation farms.

The Southern culture was primarily Protestant-Baptist, whereas the Northern states and cities had been formed by Protestant-Puritans as well as a large influx of Catholics from Ireland and Continental Europe. The Southern way of life was much slower, more genteel. The Northern way of life was much more fast-paced, much more industrial, and much.