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Why Didn't The South Take A Different Course And Choose To Become Involved In The Industrial Revolution In The 1820s And 1830s?
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Why didn't the South take a different course and choose to become involved in the Industrial Revolution in the 1820s and 1830s?
Introduction
From the late 17th century to early 19th century, the United States of America witnessed many significant changes in the socio-economic context. It was the period when every sector was going through drastic changes in society and Americans were adjusting to the changes that were revolutionizing their lives. Among them, the most important is the market and industrial revolution that changed the dynamics of the country and uplifted its economy. Industrialization began in the late 1700s and remained till 1820 as the production of the goods increased due to the establishment of factories and work organization (Kelly, Morgan, Mokyr, and O'Grada, 2015). Outwork system was a new strategy introduced in this period to save the time by the division of labor and cost reduction of commodities. Nature of specific tasks shifted the focus from outwork to factories so that all the functions can be performed under one roof. In the 1820s, Americans started replacing British immigrants with the inclusion of technology in production (Kelly, Morgan, Mokyr, and O'Grada, 2015). The South, however, decided to take a different course in the history and chose to remain agricultural oriented economy. South had many differences with the North whether they were geographical, communal perspective or the nature of the economy. For example, the south had plain land and suitable environmental conditions to grow crops. This was not the case in North, because North was colder, mountainous and had less area available for farming. South also had abundant human capital including slaves whereas North was in favor of demolition of slavery. This essay aims to analyze the reasons which motivated the south to take a different path by not opting in the industrial revolution in the 1820s and 1830s. Suitable environmental conditions for farming and the conservative approach to work in industries due to slavery discouraged south to take an alternative path to participate in the industrial revolution between 1820 and 1830s.
Discussion
The industrial revolution was an era of change that diverted from the traditional approaches of organizational structure and facilitated American people in all the possible ways. This era was important because innovation was taking place at that time as a result of which more technology was coming in. South was in strong position in agriculture due to its agricultural based economy as the region produced cotton and tobacco in abundance which was then needed by North. North used to buy many raw materials from the south. Therefore, the south chose not to opt for the industrial revolution so that they could earn more income in less time by accelerating the cultivation process of the cotton.
The second reason for not involving in industrial revolution was related to slavery. South and North faced many conflicts regarding slavery as South supported slavery, but north didn't (Scott, 2015). South had the competitive advantage of huge workforce in which majority of the people were slaves. They used to work in fields to grow crops in cultivated land. When the wave of industrial revolution came, plantation owners preferred plantation overwork in factories. The leading reason for their resistance was that they had to train and educate their slaves and for that, they had to pay them which was against their motive (Bezis-Selfa, John, 2018). South was to keep slaves whereas north wanted to free them and control other states. South was of the view that no law in the constitution demands the freedom of slaves held by the southern people and because of that, they were against the North for going against the system. This is why before the war, there were almost five times more abolition societies there than in the North (Scott, 2015).
The third reason which shifted the South's path away from the industrial revolution in the 1820s and 1830s was the South’s inflexibility to adapt to the changes brought by immigrants. They were more conservative as compared to the North and didn't want to change. For industrialization, technical skills and education were required because of the innovation and inclusion of technology (Shi, David, and Tindall, 2016). South showed opposition and didn't welcome immigrants. This is why the immigrants from abroad like Britain then went to the north and helped them polish their human capital.
Conclusion
The discussion as mentioned above based on the South's resistance to the Industrial Revolution in the early eighteenth century describes its socio-economic context along with some significant changes in the Industrial Revolution. The cotton production, for instance, was known for its majorly fueled agricultural progress in the south. There was a problem of the slave labor force for south as they did not end the slavery like North region. Labor in the southern states needed to be educated and incentivized so that they could become productive and efficient to a considerable scale for factories. The South lacked the free labor force which the North in the New England had. Thus, the South could not afford to take a different course, and this is why the region chose not to go for the industrial revolution like North. Also, during the four-year war from 1828 to 1832, many laws changed regarding tariffs and taxes. There was an inflation crisis during the time which had nothing to do with the aspect of slavery. There were many prominent factors due to which south could not change its course, more prominently relevant to the socio-economic and other cultural differences. However, south later became industrialized in the 1860s and adapted the modernism in the region.
Works Cited
Bezis-Selfa, John. Forging America: ironworkers, adventurers, and the industrious revolution. Cornell University Press, 2018.
Kelly, Morgan, Joel Mokyr, and Cormac O'Grada. "Roots of the industrial revolution." (2015).
Scott, Carole E. "THE VERY DIFFERENT BUT CONNECTED ECONOMIES OF THE NORTHEAST AND THE SOUTH BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR." B> Quest (2015).
Shi, David E., and George Brown Tindall. America: A narrative history. WW Norton & Company, 2016.
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