Two Societies at War Term Paper

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United States was founded upon conflict. As early as the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia the lines of contention were already drawn: the commercial interests of the North conflicted with the planter interests of the South. When the Constitutional Convention convened the founders of the United States sought to put into writing the philosophical basis for the nation they had recently created -- and slavery was an issue. The perpetuation of slavery was a direct contradiction to their premise that "all men are created equal," and many members of the Convention called for its abolishment. However, it was acknowledged that the Southern economy could not function without it; slavery continued, but only where it was indispensable. Yet its continuation was not necessarily ideological; it was not that Southerners were inherently more evil or cruel than Northerners -- the divide between the states possessed more practical origins.

In its essence, slavery was an efficient agricultural method best suited to a region where cotton and tobacco were the dominant crops.

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These crops, by contrast to corn or wheat, required a relatively large workforce. In order to generate the most profits, slavery had been employed by Southern aristocrats since the founding of the colonies. From an economic perspective, this was done to cut down on the large costs of actually employing workers. Over time, it became an institution -- the abolishment of which would spell certain doom for the established order.

Ultimately, the Northern states developed a more diverse economy, based upon free labor, while the South depended upon a handful of cash crops, based upon vast numbers of unskilled laborers. Into the nineteenth century the North developed steam power, new ways of refining steel, and expanded its industrial base into the Midwest. These regions depended upon crops like beef, wheat, and corn -- none of which were suitable for slave labor. So, as the West was settled, both the Northern and….....

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