The North and the South was one of several examples of the pro-slavery plantation literature genre that emerged from the Southern United States in response to Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which was criticised in the South as inaccurately depicting the workings of slavery and the attitudes of plantation owners towards their slaves.

[2] A similar angle had been taken (albeit with less fervour) in the earlier anti-Tom novel The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters by Charles Jacobs Peterson.

[4] The story centres on the wealthy and prosperous Harley family, consisting of: Frank (the father), Gazella (the mother), and their nine children.

After a series of bad investments results in bankruptcy, the Harleys are forced into destitution, which in turn leads to Frank's untimely death from excessive drinking.

Gazella continues life as a seamstress in order to provide for her children, two of which have since left home to live on a plantation in Mississippi and are now regaining their wealth.