A nation divided
Free state and slave state
Each state has its own way to make money. This is usually based on
geography (where the state is located), resources (what natural resources can
be found there), and the government (what the people decide to do with what
they have).
In the 1800s, there were mainly two kinds of states in the country. Those
states in the Northern part of the country had growing cities, factories, and
industries, while the Southern states had large farms called plantations, which
grew huge amounts of crops. The North would manufacture goods to sell as
the South would harvest crops to sell. Their methods were very different.
The Northern states were generally referred to as free states because their
men and women were free and would work for a wage. In some cases, free
blacks were also allowed to have factory jobs. The Southern states were
called slave states because most black people in those areas were slaves,
who worked on farms or plantations. Slaves were considered property who
could be bought and sold to other landowners. They would live on
plantations and would be provided with what they needed to sustain a living. There
was free labor in the North, and slave labor in the South.
Northerners wanted the new states created out of the Western territories to
be free states, while the Southern states wanted the new states to be slave
states.
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