Civil War Economy
Economic History
Economics of the Civil War
The American Civil War was the most deadly and debatably the most important event in the nation's history. Sectional tensions preserved in the Constitution blowup into a brutal war that cost over 600,000 lives and slashed a nation into two. Slavery was a main cause of the conflict, and while the Thirteenth Amendment ended the practice at war's end, race relations continued to dominate American politics and society well into the future. The war also increased American economic power until it equaled, and then passed all of the other countries’ economies. After the war, Americans had a new sense of being a part of a single nation instead of a multinational of states with their own institutions and histories. Economically, the war was a advantage for the North and a disaster for the South. The North began the war with many advantages more men, more money, more industrial power, and a wide-ranging railroad system. By the end of the war, the North continued to dominate economically, while the withered South struggled to recover economically and psychologically from the destruction of the war. In addition to losing many of its young men, sons, husbands, fathers, and friends to the conflict, the southern planter upper classes was crushed in the war, and never regained its political power. The Civil War was more than just a sequence of battles. It was a nationwide tragedy that had a weighty impact on all aspects of American society. Men were taken from farms, factories and plantations and sent to fight one another leaving women and children to tend to the home front. A large number if casualties on both sides meant that everyone was directly affected by the bloodshed, even those living far from the scene of battle. In the areas where battles did occur, homes, farms, schools, and bridges were steamrolled. War led to the disturbance of American society on an unparalleled scale.
Millions of men made their way to the front and
Economics of the Civil War
The American Civil War was the most deadly and debatably the most important event in the nation's history. Sectional tensions preserved in the Constitution blowup into a brutal war that cost over 600,000 lives and slashed a nation into two. Slavery was a main cause of the conflict, and while the Thirteenth Amendment ended the practice at war's end, race relations continued to dominate American politics and society well into the future. The war also increased American economic power until it equaled, and then passed all of the other countries’ economies. After the war, Americans had a new sense of being a part of a single nation instead of a multinational of states with their own institutions and histories. Economically, the war was a advantage for the North and a disaster for the South. The North began the war with many advantages more men, more money, more industrial power, and a wide-ranging railroad system. By the end of the war, the North continued to dominate economically, while the withered South struggled to recover economically and psychologically from the destruction of the war. In addition to losing many of its young men, sons, husbands, fathers, and friends to the conflict, the southern planter upper classes was crushed in the war, and never regained its political power. The Civil War was more than just a sequence of battles. It was a nationwide tragedy that had a weighty impact on all aspects of American society. Men were taken from farms, factories and plantations and sent to fight one another leaving women and children to tend to the home front. A large number if casualties on both sides meant that everyone was directly affected by the bloodshed, even those living far from the scene of battle. In the areas where battles did occur, homes, farms, schools, and bridges were steamrolled. War led to the disturbance of American society on an unparalleled scale.
Millions of men made their way to the front and