Essay on How Different Were the North and South?

The paper examines two counties from different states that played an important before and after the civil war. Augusta County based in Virginia and Franklin County in Pennsylvania form the basis for this study. The two towns occupy the eastern part of the United States between the south and north (Brown 27). The first difference between the two counties is their regional location. Augusta is based in the south, while Franklin is based in the north. The north and south had a conflict, and the two towns were used during the time of war as a battle place. Besides the fact that the two towns are located in the same geographical region, Augusta is based in the Virginia, which was a confederate State while Franklin is in Pennsylvania, a state based in the northern part of America. The south supported different ideologies from what the north wanted, leading to a war that claimed the lives of many in the American history (Brown 27). The southern part members wanted out of the union due to divergent opinions on how their economies should run. Augusta supported the south and their interests while Franklin County in Pennsylvania supported the north.

The second and important difference between the two counties is their economy. Franklin had almost double the number of commercial businesses that were in Augusta. The economy of the south, as represented by Augusta, depended on agriculture and trade. This means that Franklin was more established in terms of the economy as compared to Augusta. Franklin had more schools running in their county as compared to Augusta, which had slightly less of such facilities. The economy of the two counties is representative of the larger societies and the differences that they exhibit. For instance, the economy of the northerners was based on manufacturing, while the southerners were still dependent on agriculture and trade. The south was inhabited by blacks who did not have much resources. The north enjoyed the presence of natives who had enough resources to invest in manufacturing industries (Oliveira 609). The economies of the two counties were distinct as one represents the north and the other representing the south. Equally products for sale within Franklin were established and were advertised in their local newspapers. On the other hand, Augusta had few such developments indicating that their economy lagged due to differing ideologies.

People from the two counties live distinct social lives, which depended on whether one was a southerner or a northerner. Pennsylvania, as a state, did not encourage slavery, which was the backbone of the economy for southerners. The north had developed to manufacturing businesses that depended on labor from immigrants to produce goods for the market. Most abolitionist movements began from the north, denouncing anything to do with slavery (Dew 6). The south needed slavery as an institution to go to provide the required workforce in the farms. The fact that the south depended on slavery while the north depended on labor is a significant difference between the two counties. Franklin had established cities that were densely populated as compared to Augusta that had a slightly lower population. The north, with the help of Abraham Lincoln, fought for abolition of slavery and equality rights for all within the United States. Slavery formed the primary basis for their differences, resulting in a civil war that claimed many lives.

Works Cited

Brown, Zachary. “Changing Understandings of the American Civil War in Border Communities: The Cases of Augusta and Franklin Counties.” Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History 7.1 (2017): 27-43.

Dew, Charles B. “Daydreams and Nightmares: A Virginia Family Faces Secession and War.” Civil War Book Review 18.1 (2016): 6.

Oliveira, Juliana Jardim de. “THE WAR OF BROTHERS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: THE US CIVIL WAR AND THE 1860s.” Almanack (2019): 609-616.