How Did The Civil War Affect The Economy

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The Civil War was a tragedy that affected every corner of the country in a myriad of ways. One such place that was effected was the state of Illinois, even though the state had no battles fought within it. The state of Illinois was a key player in the Civil War that contributed to the war effort greatly; After and during the war the state of Illinois had enormous changes to the states immigration, economy, and to a certain extent culture. One major thing that Illinois contributed to the war which drastically changed the outcome were the soldiers that the state supplied to the war effort. With the soldiers contribution to the war was also the effects of war on the soldiers. According to civil-war.net Illinois furnished 259,092 soldiers, which …show more content…

Illinois contained many supply depots, transported supplies, provided food, and provided weapons. Illinois had the benefit of being at least partly industrialized, that Illinois had many farms, and that Illinois had many railroads and rivers. Illinois being industrialized helped it to produce many arms and munitions. The advantage of the vast farmland let Illinois produce tons of food to feed the Union soldiers. Finally the large amount of rivers and railroads helped Illinois to get the supplies that it and other states produced to the soldiers. One very important city along the most major river that Illinois had access to, the mississippi, became a major supply depot. This city was very well protected by Fort Defiance. The city served as a major supply depot for the Union army.The city transported many supplies and housed many Union troops. During and after the war Illinois had an economic problem. The problem started during the civil war where the farmers who were used to selling their produce down south could not sell it anymore due to the fact that they were at war with their consumers. The farmers and other producers had to sell up river, which was more expensive. The problem was cushioned by the fact that Cairo had so many soldiers that would buy the food and wares. The problem was slightly there after the war, but it went away very quickly. The market in Cairo slowly shrunk as the soldiers went back to their