Drawing showing how northern manufacturing and industry was largely expanded during the 1860s.
The 19th century had begun, and the United States of America was in the midst of a great period of advancement and prosperity. The economy was thriving, and was rapidly growing. The northern part of the U.S. relied on the goods produced by factories. The north had become very industrialized and primarily depended on manufacture; there were barely any farms. On the contrary, the south relied on agriculture and crops, and the labor of slaves. The south was still brimming with large and vast fields to farm. Nonetheless, conditions were satisfactory, and the U.S. was not experiencing significant issues. However, this age of success would not last long. The north began to oppose the enslavement of African Americans, which at this time was still an influential aspect in society. Southerners were scared of the north’s growing sentiment towards African Americans because they figured that their primal source of income, slavery, would be cut off sooner or later.
This 1866 image of field hands on a plantation in St. Helena Island, South Carolina, depicts a scene common on plantations throughout the South during more than two centuries of slavery.