Example

Dress Rehearsal

Your history teacher has asked you to explain how the economies in early America became two polar opposites in the North and the South. You must follow the reasoning behind each financial system. You will use a secondary source, your textbook, as well as other resources to write an informative essay. Yes, you heard right—it’s time for some research.

You examine the evidence from your textbook to determine that the North, with little fertile land, began to acquire most of its money through industry. On the other hand, the land in the South was excellent for the growth of cotton. With agriculture as their economic base, Southerners had no need for jumping on the industrial bandwagon.

Some agriculture was also alive and well in the North, but those farms tended to be smaller, growing crops that did not demand much land or a large labor force. People, at first, grew what their families needed, sort of like what your mom or grandma do now even though there is perfectly good grocery store at the strip mall. As cities expanded, farmers grew excess that could be sold to city markets. As a result, slavery grew out of favor and practice, and by 1804, Northerners no longer participated in the system at all.

In contrast, cotton farms in the South grew extremely large. This was due to the profitability created by the invention of the cotton gin. This, in turn, created demand for a large labor force—a force that slavery could provide at low cost. The South based its economy on the backs of slaves. Slaves made large, profitable farms possible, and slave owners accumulated wealth.

Your textbook analyzes the causes of the abolition of slavery in the North and the entrenchment of slavery in the South. Key terms are identified and statistics on the numbers of slaves are included. Sidebars demonstrate how a cotton gin works and how the creation of farms moved populations. These are all great resources for drawing conclusions about the differing economies of the North and South. All of these tools will be helpful in writing your essay.

Primary sources, or first-hand accounts of experiences and events, will also enhance your work. For example, in “The Aristocratic Journey, Letters written during a stay in America, 1827-1828,” writer Margaret Hall notes that, “five years ago Mr. and Mrs. Kirke Boott took up their residence at Lowell where there was then no building except one or two little hovels, but last night we went over very extensive cotton manufacturies that have sprung up since that time, and on every side fresh ones are starting into life. This State is so very bad for agricultural purposes that they are driven to manufactures to gain a livelihood…”

Don’t you love that way of writing? This quote supports your textbook’s claim that the North became increasingly industrial rather than relying on a weak agricultural economic base.

Another primary source is a narrative account by an African American slave, Charles Ball, written in 1800. In the journal he writes, “Cotton…had not been higher for many years, and as a great many persons, especially young men, were moving off to the new purchase in Georgia, prime hands were in high demand, for the purpose of clearing the land in the new country -- that the boys and girls, under twenty, would bring almost any price at present, in Columbia for the purpose of picking the growing crop of cotton, which promised to be very heavy; and as most persons had planted more than their hands would be able to pick young n*****s, who would soon learn to pick cotton, were prime articles in the market.”

Here, Ball’s experience confirms that cotton was a prime economic resource in the South, very dependent on slavery for its survival. As proof that plantations grew increasingly large, Ball adds, “I had observed that in the country through which we traveled, little attention was paid to the cultivation of anything but cotton. Now this plant was almost the sole possessor of the fields. It covered the plantations adjacent to the road, as far as I could see, both before and behind me.”

The evidence from these sources indicates that the economies of the two regions were in opposition. This will be the main idea of your paper. You make a cluster to develop the main points, or criteria, you want to note: land use, labor force, and sources of income. You will use specific details from your reading to explain how each of these played out in the North and the South.

The structure of this paper might take the form of comparing and contrasting the North and the South by criteria, or you might decide to discuss the North first, and then the South. Either way, be sure to use transitional words, phrases, and clauses to connect your sentences and paragraphs. Keep your word choice academic, and watch out for errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. So many rules; so little time to apply them.

To better explain your thoughts, you’ll look for images such as photographs and paintings of the time period. One picture is worth a thousand words, you know. Graphs and tables, say on numbers of slaves living in the South as opposed to the numbers living in the North, will also provide better understanding of your text. Even links to videos and music would help engage your reader. Of course, you’ll need to give credit to your sources for any ideas, statistics, and data used in your paper.

Woot! Another writing assignment for the books!

Sources:

Ball, Charles. “Fifty Years in Chains.” Africans in America. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012. Web. 27 May 20112. .

Lowell, Margaret. “The Aristocratic Journey, Letters Written during a stay in America, 1827-1828.” Center for Lowell History University of Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts, 2012. Web. 27 May 2012. .

Danzer, Gerald, et al. The Americans. Illinois: McDougall Littell, 2005.

That’s a Wrap

Your students have demonstrated their ability to write an informative or explanatory paper using a variety of resources. Their text is accompanied by graphics that reinforce the information. Their writing is academic in nature and is cohesive and mature. In informing their readers about the economies of the North and South, they’ve come to explore how the two became so different in terms of labor and culture as well. Now we’re talking!

Quiz Questions