1. The cotton gin was one of the primary driving forces of the southern economy.
Explanation:
The cotton gin is a machine created with the purpose of being able to fasten up the process of separation of the cotton fiber and the seeds. This resulted in much more efficient and faster production. Even though it might seem as a simple machine, and it is indeed, but the work it was doing had huge economic impact.
The southern economy was heavily dependent on agriculture, and one of the primary crops was the cotton. There was high demand for the cotton and the price for it was relatively good. The process of separation of the cotton fiber from the seeds was slow though, done manually, and the production was limited. Once the cotton gin was created though, the production skyrocketed and that had big and very positive impact on the southern economy for the time being.
2. The cotton boom resulted in higher demand of slaves.
Explanation:
The cotton boom occurred in the southern states of the United States. This happened at the turn of the 19th century. This cash crop turned out to be highly profitable. With the demand for it constantly growing and the process of production becoming faster, the cotton propelled itself as the most important cash crop in the South.
The cotton is not an easy crop to grow and work on, and it is highly demanding in labor force. The majority of the work was done by slaves, but as there were more and more cotton farms the present slaves were not enough and much more were needed. The result was a significant increase in the number of slaves as the cotton farm owners acquired more and more during this period in order to make as much profit as possible.
3. The South had fewer industries because it was making good profit of the agriculture so it didn't really seemed that they need to move away in other direction.
Explanation:
The North and the South had totally different development once the process of industrialization started in the United States. That eventually led to economic and political division, as well as prosper of the North and set back of the South.
The North started to industrialize heavily and instead of focusing on only one branch it diversified and made much stronger economy over time. The South on the other hand was not willing to abandon the agriculture. The cash crops were bringing in a lot of profit, so the South didn't saw any reason as to why to branch out its economy. While this was serving them well for the time being, it turned out to have very negative effect on the long run.
4. The southern society was mostly made out of Catholic Europeans and African slaves.
Explanation:
The southern society was a very strict one, with sharp division among the different groups of people, and the tolerance being small to nonexistent. This was mainly because of the politics in the South, where only particular group of people was allowed to settle in, with very few exceptions, creating a homogeneous society of people from ''first class', while also bringing in slaves which were people of ''second class'.
The society of the South can be divided into two brad groups, one being European Catholics, while the other being the African slaves. The European Catholics were mostly of British origin, and they were the ones that pulling all the strings int he society. The people of other ethnic or religious groups in general were not welcomed or tolerated. The other group were the African slaves. The African slaves were brought as labor force for the plantations. They didn't had any rights, were not allowed to contact or to go on places where the white people were going, and they were not allowed to educate themselves.
5. The free African Americans in the South faced racism and discrimination.
Explanation:
After the slavery was officially abolished in all states, the situation gradually started to change for the African Americans. The changes were much faster in the northern states though, while in the southern ones it seemed that nothing has really changed in the society except that now they are free.
Despite becoming free and having rights as the white people, the African Americans didn't had it well in the South. The reason was that the racism was widespread, so the white people avoided them in general, didn't wanted to communicate with them or be in the same places, and when it came to job opportunities they were usually dismissed because of discrimination. The rise of racist and supremacist organizations also caused huge problems as many African Americans faced physical attacks, some being fatal, and had their properties attacked and destroyed as well.
