List several ways the North was different from the South before the Civil War:

Differences in the North and South

Think about the last time you went to a friend's home. Does your friend's family do everything the same as yours? Probably not, even if they live right down the street. This is exactly what happened in our country before the Civil War. Different areas did things differently, and it divided the country. The United States was so divided that there was even a boundary, called the Mason-Dixon Line, an imaginary line that divided the country into the North and South.

Economy of the North

In the North, farming was important for a family's food production, but it was not a way of life. The rocky soil and climate in the area did not promote farming. This led the development of an industrial economy in the North, an economy in which manufacturing and textile development, fishing, and whaling were the primary means to gain wealth. Additionally, northern states and residents were very involved in the development of the railroad system in the United States. The diverse opportunities of the North allowed it to grow at a faster rate than the South.

Economy of the South

Unlike the North, the South relied on an agricultural economy, an economy in which farming was the primary means of wealth. In fact, here, wealth was frequently measured by how much land and how many slaves you owned. Plantations, or large farms, boasted hundreds of acres of land on which to grow cash crops, or plants grown that could be sold for cash. Mainly, plantation owners focused on growing cotton, indigo plants (plants used for their blue dye), and tobacco, which they could sell quickly and easily. Southerners just focused on selling their crops instead of creating and selling goods with the crops they grew.

Divided But Connected

As you're learning, the North and South did things very differently. Despite the differences, the North's economy was supported by the South's, and the South's economy was supported by the North's. Since the North had an industrial economy focused on manufacturing, it needed the crops grown in the South to produce goods. For instance, a northern textile factory would need cotton from the South to develop its fabrics. Therefore, many of the materials grown in the South were sold to northern industry owners.