Introduction: The American Civil War was a defining moment in American history. While the American Revolution (1776-1783) created the United States, the Civil War (1861-1865) determined the kind of nation it would become. Before and during the Civil War, the North and the South greatly differed on economic issues. It might seem to most people that the Civil War was mainly about slavery, the economic issues however played a very significant role. Prior to the war, the northern elite pursued an economic expansion, being seen not quite favorably by the South, who saw the negative consequences in their way of life, having free slave labor. Southerners believed that if elected, Abraham Lincoln would restrict their rights to own slaves. Upon Abraham Lincoln becoming president …show more content…
In 1861, the newest technology was wet-plate photography, a process in which an image is captured on chemically coated pieces of plate glass. Not only, did audacious photographers venture onto the battlefields, but those very imagines were then widely displayed and sold in even larger quantities nationwide. Railroad: No army had ever used railroads in support of war efforts. But President Abraham Lincoln understood railroads. As an Illinois railroad lawyer, Lincoln had defended the interests of railroad companies, and as a politician he promoted the expansion of railroads as vital to national infrastructure. Thus, as Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army, he directed his Generals to exploit the Northern advantages of superior rail system. In 1862, Congress passed a law giving the government the authority to take possession of railroads for wartime use. This got the rail companies in line with the war efforts, setting precedence for the use of the domestic rail system during the two World Wars of the 20th century. Aerial