The American civil war was a turning point in the history of the American people. It has so shaped the lives of people today. non merely in the United States but throughout the universe. After the wars for independency. it was the following struggle which shed American blood and lives. which unhappily was against other Americans every bit good. However. sad though as it may be. out of that struggle arose the realisation that all work forces and adult females are created equal. and in a state like the United States. there is no topographic point for bondage. Franklin and Augusta counties were at the centre and bosom of the struggle. The two were at two opposing terminals of the spectrum.

One was a northern. break one’s back free province. while the other was a southern. landed and break one’s back powered community. The lives of the people of these two counties were shaped by the events from 1790 up to 1860. and their two different waies of development shaped their function in the civil war to come. In those yearss. land and agribusiness was the true step of power and wealth. It was merely when 1 had land or other belongingss that one gained rights. privileges and even esteem. In this respect. it is worthy to observe that the two counties were comparatively in the same part of the Shenandoah Valley. and they were merely 200 stat mis off from each other.

Of class. what separated the two geographical neighbours was slavery. The land values in Franklin were much higher than in Augusta. and the former had better cultivated countries. In the former. larger land sizes resulted in lower values per acre. In contrast to this. people in Augusta were richer than those in Franklin. giving a higher per capita income. The white occupants of Augusta were two times richer than those in Franklin. chiefly because they have both land and slaves as belongings.

One other important similarity with respect to land was that in both counties. half of the population did non ain land. concentrating the wealth and resources in a smattering of property-owning elite. which by and large shaped early America. In economic footings. both counties were by and large bring forthing wheat and maize. with Franklin bring forthing more wheat while Augusta produced more maize. Though the people in the latter were richer than those in the former. Franklin farms were more productive. particularly with the production of maize. Both counties fared likewise with respect other less common harvests that they planted.

Religion besides played a function during these times. Both counties had a mixture of denominations. without any individual one being the dominant religion. Franklin had more churches. totaling 92 based on the 1860 nose count. However. even though they had merely 54 churches. Augusta had larger parishes. and had invested more to a great extent in their substructure and edifices. All of these informations and statistics show that the two counties were by and large demographically the same. They were situated in the same country. had similar industries and faiths. and were merely 200 stat mis off from each other.

The two even had rather similar Torahs. and province fundamental laws. The difference was slavery. Augusta relied to a great extent on slaves. and fought for the right to have slaves to the terminal. Franklin on the other manus did non. believing otherwise and make up one’s minding non to handle people as objects and as belongings. In the terminal. it can be said that though physically two things may be the same. the values and rule that one holds can spell the difference.

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