After the colonization of America took place, sectionalism emerged between the now industrialized North and the agrarian South. Throughout the existing sections in the North and South, different perspectives about social, cultural, and economic issues such as slavery, rights, and tariffs arose, proving to be the foundation for the American Civil War. The economy called for a strong sense of unity and support within the regions due to the need for modern transportation in importing and exporting purchased goods for war. Led by President Davis, the Confederate economy of the South was unsuccessful in reaching its highest capability. Meanwhile President Abraham Lincoln led the Union States of the North to a prosperous industrial economy.
When one looks back in our history, we have always thought that everyone suffered after the Civil War. The Civil War after all was extremely destructive to anything and anyone involved. However, Robert Tracy McKenzie did not believe that everyone suffered a great deal. In fact, in his article, “Civil War and Socioeconomic Change in the Upper South: The Survival of Local Agricultural Elites in Tennessee, 1850-1870,” he discussed how the top five percent of the elite farmers were still prosperous. McKenzie’s article focuses on all three regions in Tennessee, but only a few select counties.
Next, when the North had more upper class people due to wealth, it caused the North and South to disagree with how money should be obtained. The South argued that slavery was the answer and the North argued that factories were what had to be done. In one of the documents, it said, “There were 22 million people in the North compared with only 9 million in the South” (Document 7). This means there was more money being made in the North due to more people working in factories versus money being made selling cotton produced by slaves on plantations. The disputes on money were a huge factor in causing the Civil War.
During the years that led up to the Civil War, the economic system between the North and the South were completely incompatible. The South’s economy was based on agriculture, whereas, the North was depended on manufacturing. The difference between the economic systems significantly created a conflict between the North and the South such as Anti-slavery, pro-slavery, and political demand. The plantation system in the South had rapidly grown, especially with the invention of the cotton gin.
The South became a crop-based society that depended on the cheap labor of slaves. The North became a manufacturing and trading society that had saw slaves as helpful, but not absolutely crucial. Further into the future, this difference would drastically affect the Americas, through racial tension and ethical dilemmas. It would become a huge part of the civil war’s cause, a war that irrefutably shaped today’s world. All of these implications arose simply from the fact that the Northern colonies adapted to their environment in a way that did not require workers whereas the South adapted differently, demanding slave
The Civil War was one of the most devastating wars in American history. It was fought between the North and the South over Slavery. It impacted both the South and the North’s economy. Many people died trying to re-unite the country over slavery, “over 620,000 people died in the Civil War” (Riggs 2 ). This proved that the war not only affected the country and the economy; it also affected the people as well.
The great Civil War that engulfed the United States in 1861 resulted from a fundamental cleavage between its two most powerful sections, North and South. (Reid: 88) Prior to the American Civil War there were significant differences between the Northern and the Southern States in terms of social, economic and political preferences. The Industrial Revolution transported from Great Britain to the Northern States fueled this dichotomy. The society in the North was industrializing and urbanizing, creating a suitable environment for entrepreneurship and improved job opportunities. In addition, the enormous expansion of the railroad network, new means of communication and the politics of economic liberalization contributed to the formation of
After the Civil War, the United States had two distinct economies, which is quite significant. The Southern economy was completely damaged by the results of the Civil War. Southerners were forced to readjust their entire economy, because slaves needed to be liberated, leaving slave-owners with no workforce. Meanwhile, in the North, the need to supply Union armies with particularly daily supplies marked the start of an era of industrial development. Which giant corporations essentially emerged known as Big Business.
In era following the Civil War, numerous changes occurred in the South. The Southern region was transitioning from a plantation driven economy, to one dominated by small family farms and industry. Although the destruction that occurred during the Civil War made the transition difficult, Southern promoters aimed to imitate the industrial success of the North and West. In order to encourage economic growth, Southern promoters had to unite the South with the rest of the nation through railroad systems and industrialization. It was also a challenge to bring the people of the South together to create prosperity for the region itself, rather than allowing those in power to focus on personal gain.
The War Between the States was one of America’s greatest wars—it was the fight for freedom, but it also impacted the economy. Because of this, America’s labor and transportation systems both took a significant turn during the Civil War, impacting America’s economy forever. In the end, the American Civil War greatly benefitted our transportation system, but devastated the South’s labor force. For a war to be fought strategically well, there first must be a form of simple, yet speedy, transportation. That is where the transcontinental railroad came in.
Constitutionally the North preferred a loose understanding of the United States Constitution, and they sought to grant the federal government amplified powers. The South desired to reserve all vague powers to the separate states themselves. The South trusted upon slave labor on behalf of their economic wellbeing, and the economy for the North was not
The one large downside to the change in economics during this time period was a reduction in the number of men employed in the industrialization production due to increased mechanization taking the place of hands on workers (Brinkley, 2005; Foner, 1995). In contrast, the economy of the south was completely devastated with the war and the destruction it brought to the plantation life and the ability to ship their cotton produced (Brinkley, 2005). While strong in knowledgeable man power on the battlefield, economically the south had few of the resources necessary to be successful in a long-term war against the north (Brinkley,
What were the major causes of the civil war and reconstruction? The North and South states had many conflicts that made them butt heads. The conflicts lead to some long term and short term causes and effects. With all that happened there were some successes and some failures. The impact the civil war and reconstruction left were not too good.
It is eerily personal, as we complete this course reading about the civil war and living through today’s adversarial climate of protesters, division of social, economic and political parties. As Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address “and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth” (Lincoln 428). The Civil War, while largely believed to be largely about slavery it appears to me that state’s right played just as an important role in the actual cause and continuance of the war. The division of the states and their prosperity, industry, education and representation in Congress divided this country, much as it is today.
Notably, economic causes were major predicaments during the American civil war. These were the grounds of the civil war that affected the two regions in many ways. Within time, economic variations developed vastly between the two parts of the two regions. The Southern states depended much on farming than in industrialization. After the invention of the Cotton Gin, there as a greater necessity for persons and property, thus this made cotton the chief year’s produce of the South.
