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How Did The Civil War Affect The Economy

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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. Because of the rapid settlement of the western land in the 1850s, Congress wanted to enforce a transcontinental railroad to replace America’s current weak transportation system—horse-drawn carriages were still used and soldiers often had to walk. But due to the constant competition between the Northern members and the Southern …show more content…

After the attack at Pearl Harbor, the United States was pulled into the Second World War. Similar to the Civil War, men enlisted to fight and left their homes to their wives to run. As in the Civil War, jobs men usually performed were taken over by women. Also, America’s manufacturers in World War II were engaged in a great industrial effort, producing more machines, supplies, and airplanes than ever seen before in United States history. Because of this, the American Civil War and the Second World War are very similar in the economic consequences that came about with the war.

With the Civil war came many changes to America’s economy, specifically to her transportation and labor systems. While the United States’ transportation sector changed positively, the labor system did not, since the loss of slaves took its toll on the South’s economy. Overall, America’s economy changed so much from 1865 to 1880 that the effects can still be seen

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Uncompromising differences between the South (Confederacy) and the North (Union) created a civil war that lasted five years. During this war, Abraham Lincoln was president. His election led to the secession of many Southern states. After refusing to recognize the Confederacy as its own nation, the American Civil War commenced in 1861. The three main causes of the Civil War between the North and the South were industrial and agricultural economies, politics, and slavery.

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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.

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