Industry vs. Agriculture
The economy of the North was structured in a way that would more directly benefit from the development of public education than the South.
Farming Families
A significant source of the South’s resistance to education reform came from the structure of their economy. The antebellum South had a largely agricultural economy. Nearly 90% of Southerners made their living off of agriculture in some way. A common misconception is that all white farmers were rich planters that owned a large slave force. The
reality is that of about 1.6 million families only about 384,000 families owned slaves, and only about 10,000 owned more than 20 slaves. The majority of people instead had small, family based farms that required extensive labor from the family in order to survive. In these families, the primary focus for children was helping on the farm. Children as young as seven were often required to help with the labor on farms all day; performing arduous tasks such as tending to animals, plowing fields, picking crops, and cutting firewood. These children simply had no time to go to school. Their parents had no interest in providing them with any more than a basic education, because they believed their children had no need for skills outside of farming. Commenting on the North's far more extensive education system, a Southern newspaper asked, "Is this the way to produce producers? To make every child in the state a literary character would not be a good qualification for those who must live by manual labor" (McPherson).
reality is that of about 1.6 million families only about 384,000 families owned slaves, and only about 10,000 owned more than 20 slaves. The majority of people instead had small, family based farms that required extensive labor from the family in order to survive. In these families, the primary focus for children was helping on the farm. Children as young as seven were often required to help with the labor on farms all day; performing arduous tasks such as tending to animals, plowing fields, picking crops, and cutting firewood. These children simply had no time to go to school. Their parents had no interest in providing them with any more than a basic education, because they believed their children had no need for skills outside of farming. Commenting on the North's far more extensive education system, a Southern newspaper asked, "Is this the way to produce producers? To make every child in the state a literary character would not be a good qualification for those who must live by manual labor" (McPherson).
Industry
The North, however, had an extremely urban economy. The capitalist and entrepreneurial systems were developing quickly. This growing economy demanded growing numbers of skilled and educated individuals. A public education system would "served the needs of a growing capitalist economy" (McPherson 21). There was a strong mindset that all children must have a proper education in order for the booming economy of the North to continue to grow. Horace Mann expressed that schools were, "the grand agent for the development or augmentation of national resources" (Mann). Textile manager, Abbott Lawrence, saw firsthand how quickly the demand for educated individuals was growing. In a letter to a friend, he called a general education system, "the lever to all permanent improvement" (McPherson 21). Another Yankee businessman saw the clear need for public education and wrote in 1853 that "Intelligent laborers can add much more to the capital employed in a business than those who are ignorant" (McPherson 21). Overall, the North's economy was better suited to education reform than the South's because it was pushing forward instead of remaining in the past.
This graph shows how many people per thousand citizens were involved in manufacturing and trade. There is a clear concentration of these industries in the North.