From the book
Two Knowledge Economies, 1860
The North and the South, count by count
By 1860, the United States had split into two knowledge economies occupying the same borders. The book keeps the ratios: six factories for every one, more than twice the railroad, 3.9 million people held by law away from the page. These are the counts behind them.
Supports Chapter 11, “The Stolen River.” The printed book points here for the detail it no longer carries.
The two economies side by side
| 1860 | North | South | How the book says it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing establishments | 110,000 | 18,000 | About six to one |
| Miles of railroad | 22,000 | 9,000 | More than twice |
| Population | About 22 million | 9 million | About 2.4 to one |
| People held in slavery | 3.9 million | Held by law away from the page |
Ratios are computed from the counts: 110,000 over 18,000 is 6.1; 22,000 over 9,000 is 2.4. Of the South’s nine million people, 3.9 million were enslaved.
The North’s share of national output
| Product | Produced in the North |
|---|---|
| Firearms | 97 percent |
| Cloth | 94 percent |
| Pig iron | 93 percent |
Why the count belongs in a book about scribes
One economy put its people on the page and compounded; the other held millions of carriers outside the page by law and kept the river for someone else’s field. The war that followed is the book’s test case of compounding against extraction, and Chapter 11 tells it.