very
considerable extent, a discussion between the New England and Middle
States and the Southern States?

To all these questions a very satisfactory answer can be found in the
different physical characteristics of the North and South. The nature
of the soil and climate, as well as the character of the settlers,
predetermined for the Southern colonies an agricultural character, and
for the colonies of the North a commercial and industrial character;
and, already by the end of the eighteenth century we find in them a
marked difference of political and social life.

From the very start, the South, favored by a mild climate, rich soil,
and broad, low-lying valleys, developed an agricultural life. Slavery
was introduced at an early date, and flourished, the warm climate being
congenial to the negro, and the rude manual labor of the field suited to
his meagre capabilities. The result of these influences was to develop
in the South a system of large ill-worked manors or estates. The
predominance of slave labor, discouraged the immigration of free labor,
and the South remained comparatively thinly settled. The moral effect of
slavery upon the white population was bad. Habits of thriftlessness and
laziness were engendered among the free population, and their social
relations corrupted.

In the North, an indented coast with many good harbors, a rugged soil,
and a wintry climate, encouraged the development of a commercial and
manufacturing life. Slave labor here proved itself scarcely profitable,
neither the climate nor the nature of the work required, being suited to
the frames and abilities of the African. As compared with the South, the
North soon became thickly settled, and largely as a result of this,
adopted the small area of the town or township as its most important
unit of local government, instead of the larger area, the county, used
in the South. This essential difference in the system of local
government in the North, from that of the South, has remained unchanged
to this day, and has exercised great influence upon the political habits
of the peoples of these two sections.

At the time of the adoption of the constitution, these differences
between the northern and southern colonies were not so great as they
were soon to become. As contrasted with the North, the agricultural
character of the South was already marked, but the designation of these
two sections as "free" and "slave" states had not yet come into use.