Monday, September 30, 2013

What's wrong with a little industry?

In the mid 19th century, the western world was rapidly industrializing.  In addition to building a diversified economy, most countries reaped the benefits of new forms of industry--including steam, railroads, assembly production, and lower priced goods.  

Why, then, if most of these countries welcomed industry with open arms, did the South seem to lag behind?  Consider all the articles when addressing this question--with all the benefits of industrialization, what are the cons, and how does it affect the labor force?  Why would the South want to continue to remain predominately agricultural? (Yes, this has to do with perpetuating the economic status quo, but what other reasons could there be?)....

13 comments:

  1. The south most definitely lagged behind when it came to industrialization because they weren't in as much of a rush orrr had as much of a need as the north did to industrialize and use machines. They were mostly farmers and farmers werent in as large of a need as the north was to make their lives easier using machines. This effected the labor force because more people went to find jobs in the north because there were more jobs readily available there. THey wanted to remain primarily agricultural so that they could also continue to use slaves.

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  2. The North needed these industries in order to move on and one find jobs for Americans (seeing as both descriptions by the foreign writers in "Frances Anne Kemble..." and "Cotton..." descirbe America as unfinished, weak and kind of gross and poverty ridden). They also the new jobs in order to prevent slavery from spreading because of the new increase of jobs, not to mention that this would help generate more income for them. The South however, lagged behind because it didn't need the new sources of job as much, they had their labor source and were making all the money since they didn't need to be payed. I think the true reason for the South to lag behind on all these changes was because they didn't need it as much as the North did for their economy.

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  3. The South lagged behind in industrialization because they had no need to industrialize. The Southerners had plenty of money due to slavery, and much of the Western world depended on the South for cotton. Because of its warm climate and slave labor, the South was great for growing cotton, so almost all of the textile mills in England and in the North relied on the South for their cotton. This gave the South great power. If cotton plantations were to withhold their cotton for a year, they would not suffer much but textile mills everywhere would be failing and a huge economic crisis would arise. So there was no reason why the South should move away from agriculture, they had plenty of money and power.

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  4. The South had no need to industrialize at the time. The south had economic support from agriculture and they had no need/want/desire to move away from such a promising industry. Bring that the west and England relied on the souths ability to supply mass quantities of cotton and other products gown in abundance in the south, they were in no position to want to stop their booming industry. Slavery cut down on the costs of workers and it was an easy way for farmers which is what the south mostly consisted of to keep up their economic stand point. The industrialization of the North was unwelcome in the south due to the fact that it offered change which as we saw with the civil war (emancipation proclamation, etc..), was a topic the southerners were none to thrilled with.

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  5. during this time the South had a very stable economy. based of farming, it was succeeding. But the problem was industrialization was catching up to these old styles. Then the south was like Stefan said "lagged behind" the industrialization. But the thing is that the north and the south is so different because the economy is so different from the south and the north because there was farming and industries. But the interesting thing was that people in the north were saying they were getting treated very poorly just like the workers in the south. Getting payed very little was some of the issues along with poor working conditions. So even though back then the work was different the way the workers were treated was very similar.

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  6. The South didn't need an industrialization since its economy was based on cotton. Owners of cotton fields, obtained huge profits since they were also slave owners and did not have to pay them. The Southern economy was still depending on cotton and needed nothing more to continue to grow economically than slavery. In addition to communciating with other states or countries, the South had rivers and channels that could transport goods without building railroads. That is why the South was "lagging behind". However, the North as Giselle said, obviously needed to industrialize in order to advance and increase the economy without having to rely on slavery to ensure a safer and more promising future than the south's.

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  7. The south had never relied on industry up until that time. Therefore, when 19th century the rapid industrialization tide to America, south didn't need that "industry thing". The cotton they grew were shiped to everywhere. The agriculture and slavery supported the South's economy. The cons of industry for the North were more labors were needed in the factories, however the goodie's price were getting low, North has to face having an difficult economy compare to agriculture in the South. South continued to remain predominately agricultural, because agriculture gave them a good economy.

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  8. The south lagged behind in the industrial revolution for many reasons. One reason was because there weren't as many people in the south as there were in the north. The north was more industrialized because they had more people to work in the factories and this could not happen in the south because there was a small population. One con of industrialization is that if you aren't industrialized or you are unable to industrialize, you are way behind everything else going on in the world including trade and other things. Another con of industrialization is that it can cause problems throughout the country with trading and it can even cause separation. A pro of industrialization is that it gives more people jobs which helps the economy. Another pro of industrialization is that it makes peoples lives easier which allows them to get more things done in a shorter amount of time. It effects the labor force in a good way. More things can be produced and people can get jobs and work longer hours. The south would want to remain agricultural because they would be the only part of the country that would be this way, making their goods more rare.

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  10. The south did not industrialize for very good reasons. South did not industrialize mostly because they didnt need to. Plus, South did not have a proper mode for industrialization. Not only did South have very low population without slaves, which would make south unfit for factory, South's geography and climate was perfect for cotton production and therefore not only was South extremely wealthy from cotton and slave labor because many countries such as Englad would depend on the South for cotton, but also the huge success in their cotton production was what gave them power, therefore, they had no reason to industrialize.

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  11. Even though many other places industrialized the South wanted to remain agricultural for many reasons. I agree with Jason because the South already had a good system of using slaves to work their farms and bring them money, so why would they need to spend more money building a factory when their system already works. Also farming in the south worked because they don't have all four seasons like the east coast. The hotter the south is, the hotter it would be in industrial buildings. Lastly, it was much cheeper to have slaves then to have many many workers in a building, instead they can be at your house or farm and you can whip them (because im not sure if in the work place you could whip the workers.)

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  12. The souths mindset on their reliance on the Textile Industry is what ultimately caused them to lose ground to the north In the articules it is described how the Mississippi River was used for all means of transportation acting as their railroad. This enabled them to halt their industrialization because the system was efficient enough for their likings. Small set backs such as avoiding the opening of a "dancing school" in Martineau's piece, demonstrates the importance of the worker's work ethic. Some cons of factory working include the conditions where they worked. the south did not need a exsensive network of railroads and telegraphs. the souths income was isolated you controlled the slaves on your farm and sent the cotton indigo or rice to a established port to get sent out.

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  13. The south wasn't as affected by the industrial revolution because they're economy was already rooted in the supply and demand of cotton and foods that couldn't be produced in the north. When the cotton gin in invented plantations jumped right on. It's not that they lagged behind rather they just didn't have a need for the new technologies. Like when grandma keeps her flip phone because who is she going to be texting with a samsung iPad mini.
    Industrialization had an immediate and immense effect on the work force and dynamic of the economy. There was a new industry with new jobs thus allowing for population increase and urbanization. Urbanization makes the economy go round because when everyone lives on their own farm there's no demand for butchers and things as such. It worked perfectly because it allowed the south to take over the agricultural game at the same time that the north was taking over the production and outsourcing of processed goods.
    Advances in travel allowed for industrialized cities to receive more raw resources at lower prices and the produce more goods at lower prices as well. This period in time shows a big shift from making things at home to buying them. This period also mimics the exact things that happened in europe when they go through their industrial revolution.

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