The Northern Perspective Leading Up To the Civil War

Prior to the Civil War, the North was in a state of total change. While the South was a slave society, the North was becoming a market society; all success was based around trade and industry. The North was changing, in new and incredible ways. This time was called the Market Revolution.

Once upon a time, people were self-reliant. The grew their own food, and only enough for their own families; they made everything themselves, and bought very little. With the Market Revolution, this would change for the North. It was a whole new era, something frightening and unknown. People stopped making everything, and started buying them in stores. Meanwhile farmers grew not only for themselves, but for market also. Food was no longer just for eating; it was for selling. Inspired by this new discovery of selling and purchasing, the North went into fast-forward; change began to spread like wildfire.

Cities grew, new modes of transportation sprang almost out of nowhere, and travel began. It was said that Americans would build a house and then move before they got the roof onto it/ There was a constant moving, a constant advancement, and a constant bustle across the North. A new world was on its way, and few could say where it would lead.

One unfortunate aspect of the advancing of the North was the inequality it created. As wealth grows, the inequality of wealth's distribution also increases. There were those who were in a position to make a huge profit of the new America around them, yes, but there were also those trapped working in factories and making barely enough money to survive. Change was growing in the North, and where it would lead everyone was completely individual.

Yet, the People seemed to become less individual with the growth. Everyone was a piece of the community; each man, woman, and child had a specific purpose. It was as though everyone were a piece of a machine, and they all rolled togother to accomplish unimaginable things. While this created an efficient society, it would also completely alter our idea of individual rights. If everyone was part of the whole, then who was truly the individual? Was benefiting the individual the same as benefiting the majority? Life as it had been known was changing, and no one really had answers; the world would go where it would go, and it was the goal of Northerners to simply not get left behind.

Everyone worked. It was no longer just men, but now also women and children, all with jobs in factories or else in shops or other small, family-owned businesses. This had an interesting effect on the definition of childhood; while children were now money, pay checks and contributions to the family, it was also a lesson in parenting; parent swere now less different from their children, and parenting began to take on new meaning. Every member of the family contributed, meaning everyone was immensly important. Families were a team.

Overall, the North before the Civil War was focused on progress. Somehow, the country would move forward, be it with the building of railroads or the building of cities, the expanding of boundries or the claiming of patents. Only one thing was truly certain: the world was changing, and northern America wanted to be the first one there.