American History: A Survey 10/e   Alan Brinkley
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Summary

In the 1830s and 1840s, as the societies of the North and South developed, the two diverged, and this had an impact on the growth of the nation. During the period both sections expanded physically and economically; but while the northern economy was characterized by industrial expansion, by the growth of transportation systems (especially railroads), and by an increasingly diverse population, the southern economy continued to rest on staple-crop agriculture and slave labor. This is not to say that the South did not experience many of the same changes felt in the North, but in comparison, the slave states' way of life seemed more rooted in the past than in the future. As the economic power of the region shifted from the "upper" South to the "lower," cotton became "king," and trade and business served this master. In a short period of time a planter class spread across the South, and though planters were a minority, they influenced society and politics far beyond their numbers. During this period the "cavalier" myth was born and the "Southern lady" made her appearance. Though most Southerners could be considered "plain folk," they supported the slaveholding elites and hoped someday to be part of it. All the while slaves worked, endured, resisted, and under the most trying of conditions created a culture that remains an important part of American life.

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