Discuss Soil Exhaustion as a major contributing factor leading to the Essay

Discuss Soil Exhaustion as a major contributing factor leading to the American Civil War by addressing the significant events from 1798 to 1861 - Essay Example From 1800 to 1861, there were high percentages of slaves in the South than in the North. During this period, there were slave rebellions; most of the slaves were captured and executed (McNeese 7). Southern states kept government spending and taxation at low levels due to high debts as compared to the North. Southerners were incapable of supporting education as compared to the Northerners. Illiteracy was widespread in the South; in 1850, 20 percent of all white adults in the Southern states were illiterate. In the North, illiteracy was less than one percent. Though slavery was profitable, it contributed to soil exhaustion, lack of technological innovation and high debts. Soil exhaustion and erosion diminished cotton land availability. High demand and scarcity resulted to increase in price of land and slavery. Planters enlarged their holdings, and as a result, they pushed off yeomen farmers from the land. As slaves and land possession became more concentrated, harsh economic conditions led to migration to urban areas. Urban population increased in the North leading to urban poverty and low industrial wages. This migration caused fierce differences between the South and the North (McNeese 8). On March 1807, Congress passed legislation, which banned the importation of new slaves into U.S. From 1803 to 1861, various countries joined unions of either demarcated Slave states or Free states. The Congress increased tariffs in 1828 with the Tariff of Abominations. The tariffs aimed at supporting the U.S. industry; these tariffs benefited the Northern industrial economy while damaging the Southern agricultural economy. From 1827 to 1861, slavery was abolished in New York, District of Columbia, and British Empire. In 1833, the Compromise Tariff Act was passed to reduce tariffs of concern in the Southern states; it averted the confrontation. In 1851, the