Antebellum culture was very structured and each person had a role. Gender roles and racial divide was clear and specific. The country was regionally split economically with the South relying on plantation system, the West was the food supplier, and the North becoming industrialized.
Though it is positive to have structured and self-sustained as an economic system, the culture lacked equal access for all people. America was growing in nationalism but also splitting over expansion and political issues on the brink of Civil War.
