Compare And Contrast The Economic Elements Of 1861-1865

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The economic elements of 1861-1865 were very different for the North and the South. The North was doing very well, compared to the South. In the North they had to lay-off many workers and close down the textile industries because of the scarcity of cotton. However, the “arms, metalworking, boot making, and shipbuilding industries” were booming in the North (Keene, 391). The wages of the workers rose by about 40 percent, but the prices of goods rose at the same pace as the inflation rate averaged about 15 percent annually (Keene, 391). As a result, many workers created and joined craft unions, but not many strikes were held because of strikebreakers and the appeals to patriotism. The South was even more worse off than the North. The Union blockade