North and South
Compare&Contrast
Climate
The North has a climate of warm summers and snowy cold winters.
Cities / Population
Cities developed along these rivers and as ports along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
The total population of the South reached 12 million, one third of who were slaves.
Cities, which served as trading centers, grew up at these points.
The total population of the North 31 million.
Culture
Most Southerners lived on farms, scattered along the coastal plains and the small farmers in the backcountry.
The majority of people lived on small farms and found that much of the land was suited for subsistence farming—raising food crops and livestock for family use—
Transportation
Methods of long-distance transports, such as steamships and railroads, affected the South because products could more easily be sold to more distant markets. By 1860 about 10,000 miles of railroad spread across the Southern states. Still, this was not nearly as vast a railroad system as the North. Meanwhile, hundreds of steamboats moved Southern crops to the North and to European markets.