The first half of the nineteenth century saw rapid growth due to plentiful natural resources at the disposal of the country. The land person ration made food production sufficient to provide for much larger families and this led to a population explosion. The endless supply of wood for construction and water for the production of power lead to industrialism in the north. With this industry boom, however came the decline of the agrarian and artisan community, as more products became mass-produced. The move from artisan, agrarian to working for a wage although it did raise the standard of living it also led to greater disparity between the rich and the poor.
             Traditional roads and waterways could no longer keep up with the demand to ship products more quickly and efficiently out west so new roadways and railroads were built, and this lead to the Transportation Revolution that swept the north. This also meant a reduction in transportation cost, and therefore the cost of products. During this period of wealth and abundance, funding created a public school system, which led to an increased educated work force. Meanwhile in the South they largely remained agrarian with tobacco and cotton production dependent on the slave labor, so the industrial movement was inhibited and southerners did not benefit as greatly from the industrial revolution as northerners did. Also with their extensive waterways to ship cotton to England once harvested by slave labor, and then purchasing of English finished goods there was no need for southern industry or railroad systems.
             The climate and geography of the Northern and Southern states were fundamentally different and often dictated the sort of agricultural crops that could successfully be grown in any given area. The Northern soils were suited to crops like wheat which required a significantly less amount of work to plant and harvest than did cotton--a continual favorite with planters of the South. Beca...