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How Did The Civil War Affect The Economy

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American war and economics have a long history together from the over taxation during the revolutionary war to WWII’s munitions manufacturing and railroad boom, economics played a role in almost every American war, including the Civil War. The Civil War tore the nation apart, pitching brother against brother, North versus South over the critical issue of slavery. Despite excellent military strategy and battle ethics that the South possessed, it was ultimately the North’s economic superiority that won the war. This is observed in the fact that cotton is not king, Northern industry and capitalism faced off against Southern agriculture and socialism, and the power of railroads. The South seemingly possessed economic superiority in one aspect: …show more content…

The North possessed the majority of iron and steel mills, livestock and packing houses, munitions factories, and other manufacturing locations. This allowed the North to poses a huge technological and industrial advantage over the South. The capitalistic ideas in the North allowed new innovations such as the gatling gun to thrive and speed up the war. In contrast, the South’s economy focused almost exclusively on agriculture (remember, cotton is king) and a socialist and racist plantation system. This system relied on slavery to function and placed most of the economy in the agricultural commodity basket. Because of a lack of major industry the South government instituted socialist policies in order to further the Confederacy’s cause. The Confederate government took control of all the major manufacturing in the South and non agricultural industry and instituted legislation that supported this agenda. This essentially crippled the remainder of the South's private sector economy. Without a strong private sector or currency the Confederate economy collapsed over the course of the war. Soldier payments were delayed, were inconsistently delivered, and the value of Confederate dollars crashed. The Civil War favored Northern industry and capitalism …show more content…

Both the North and the South identified railroads as quick easy ways of moving troops, supplies, and injured soldiers to and from battles and other strategic areas. Railroads helped win the civil war in two ways: strategically and economically. Strategically the railroads played huge roles both in the movement of troops and supplies, and were used for battle in several occasions. The North possessed the vast majority of American railways and therefore had a distinct advantage. In order to induce cooperation between railroads, speed up the movement of military supplies and troops, and handle the capture and operation of Southern rail lines, President Lincoln enacted the Railways and Telegraphs Act of 1862. This act gave the government authority over private railroads and created the United States Military Railroad (USMRR). The purpose of the USMRR was to oversee and operate all necessary military trains. It operated like any other major railroad only it was a division of the US Army. During its short existence during the war the USMRR would buy, build, or capture, 419 locomotives, 6,330 cars, and over 2000 miles of track. It would be spearheaded by Herman Haupt, a railroad veteran who had a knack for making the best use for the USMRR’s limited selection of supplies and equipment. While the North experienced great success with its

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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.

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I. Introduction a. Attention Step – The American Civil War became the bloodiest conflict the Nation had ever seen due to the advances in the Western way of war. b. Thesis – Financing is the most predominant characteristic of the Western way of war which best exemplified the American Civil War. War financing for both the Union and Confederate States was pivotal in providing new technology and changing the direction of the war. II.

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The union had more railroads, horses, food, and supplies to fight with in this war. With the lack of railroads that the south had, they weren’t able to transport their supplies to the soldiers during the war. Since the north had many railroads, they were able to transport

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.The Civil War changed the country in many ways. Thousands of men on both sides died during the Civil War. “The Union Army lost 352, 528 men and the Confederate Army lost 258,000 men” (Doc F). Innovative ways to fight came about during the Civil War.

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The South had a very weak economy and they didn’t have as many supplies as the North. While every part of the Northern economy witnessed

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The South, as a whole, struggles economically. Aside from a few wealthy plantation owners, most of the population consisted of poor, subsistence farmers. They had few railroads, limiting trade and the use of free, slave labor prevented the South from industrializing, which caused the economy of the South to fall behind that of the North. While the northern economy was thriving, the South was struggling. Part of this stratification was due to the Transportation Revolution, which occurred largely in the North.

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In chapter 10 Howard Zinn talks about the civil war, the disadvantages and advantages between the poor and rich. The poor have always been the bait in America, due to the lack of money and power. When war is in progress, most of the time the poor are demanded to go to war because the wealthy groups have the money and power to escape from death. “ To give people a choice between two different parties and allow them, in a period of rebellion, to choose the slightly more democratic one was an ingenious mode of control. Like so much in the American system, it was not devilishly contrived by some master plotters; it developed naturally out of the needs of the situation”( Zinn, 200).

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The clash between the North and South over slavery, states’ rights, and several other conflict led a civil war in the United States. The Confederate South, which is known for its profound military history, turned out to be no opposition for quickly developing North in the Civil War. The North that was industrialized, strongly equipped realized that a lot of their triumphs were somewhat easily obtainable. Strong leadership, number of troops, and economy are only few of the factors that led to the Union's victory over the Confederate succeeded states. Number of troops, army supply and finance of the war played a role in which side was to win the war.

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Nick Baxter What caused the Civil War? DBQ The Civil War was caused by three main reasons are economic differences, interpretation of Constitution, and moral beliefs. The North and the South were very different economically.

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During the American Civil War, both the industrial capitalist and planter-slaveholding system were put under major strain, causing an infinite amount of pressure to see which would last. Throughout the Civil War, while every strength and weakness

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The North had many advantages. They beat the South in population they could draw soldiers from. The North had 22 million citizens where the South only had 5.5 million citizens. The North could transport supplies and people faster because of their roads, canals, and railroads. However the South disconnected from itself with barely any railroads and hard to move soldiers and goods from place to place.

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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.

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The civil war was a bloody destructive war fought between the United States and the confederate states of America. Following the war, the United States was faced with economic consequences that largely impacted American civilization and benefitted Robber barons. Although some may say that agriculture and labor were the primary economic consequences of the civil war, I argue that it was industrialization and transportation because they both affected Americans’ quality of life and created income inequalities. The industrial revolution had a drastic impact on American society because of its rapid economic growth.

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This was a devastating move by the Union, and due to these actions it made the South really thrive for supplies in all ways. With another effect from the Southern economy in the meantime the Confederates released a huge taxation act that was even worse since the country lacked so much central government power (Guelzo). The

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The American Civil War was the war that ended slavery. The civil war was known as one of the bloodiest and deadliest conflicts the United States had ever seen. The loss of life was an estimated amount of 620,000 men. It lasted four years, from April 12, 1861, through May 9, 1865. However, while slavery was a major cause of the American Civil War, there were several other major factors.

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