Agriculture and the Civil War

Among the economies of the north and south arose many conflicts that led to the tension of the Civil War in 1861. In the 1800s, slavery was a major sectional issue. Northerners were strongly opposed to slavery unlike the south's belief that slavery was economically beneficial.

The economies of the North and South were vastly different leading up to the Civil War. Money was equivalent to power in both regions. For the North, the economy was based on industry as they were more modern and self-aware. They realized that industrialization was progress and it could help rid the country of slave labor as it was wrong. The North’s population had a class system but citizens could move within the system, provided they made the money that would allow them to move up in class. The class system was not as rigid as it was in the South. By comparison, the South wanted to hold on to its economic policy. In doing so, the practice of slavery kept the social order firmly in place. The economic factors, social issues and a growing

Both areas had many farmers, but the south was successful with big plantations. The southern economy depended on agriculture while the North was based on technological advancement. The North successful developed many industries, while the south improved their farming methods (Roark, 7). The south farmers established huge plantations for cash crop production especially cotton. In addition, slavery became an important factor that provided

One of the most striking differences between the North and the South was the climate and geography. The North’s climate was full of warm summers and cold winters; the terrain was rocky and hilly, which wasn’t good for farming. But the North did have little farms. Most of the forest was used for shipbuilding, and cities were used for trading centers. The rivers were fast and shallow which made it hard to navigate. Also in the North people used waterpower to run factories, because it was a cheap source of energy. The South was somewhat different; the climate was generally warm and sunny. The summers were long and hot, and the winters were pretty mild. Due to the South’s climate they were able to grow different crops in large amounts, unlike the North. The south had large farms, called plantations. In the South cities developed near rivers, because of rich soil which made it easier for them to farm.

The Northern and Southern sections of the US had various economical differences which led to the Civil War. During that time period, the Northern part of the country’s economy was heavily based on industrial practices, in comparison to the Southern economy which was founded on agricultural practices. In the map of Railroads in 1860, railroads were heavily located in the Northern part of the US compared to the South because the Northern economy demands the need for railroads in order to transport the

The main difference between the Northern and Southern states was that the North was mostly populated by small farms and larger towns and cities with mercantile and factory-based economies, in contrast the South was populated by large plantations and had relatively fewer large cities and few factories. Since the north had significantly more factories, they tended to trade more manufactured goods instead of raw materials like the south. The south’s economy was heavily reliant on the labor of slaves, the north had slaves as well but it did not really compare to that of the

There were many economic differences between the North and the South that eventually led to the Civil War. One main difference was that The South's economy was based on agriculture and slave labor while the North's economy was more focused on manufacturing. According to Document 1a, “Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project” , it represents that the value of Northern manufacturing surpassed the value of Southern manufacturing. This shows that the Northern states had a very well off economy , which can partly be due to its geography and location along the coast which contributed to major trade. Another reason for the North’s good economy was because unlike the South the industrialized North generated their wealth through innovation

White farmers in the South and Midwest faced many problems after the Civil War, economically, politically, and socially. Many farmers had a system of cultivating unimproved land, and then selling it for a profit before moving farther West. However, after the Civil War, many states had no increase or barely an increase in land value. Thus, farmers using this process were no longer earning a profit. In other states, the land value did increase greatly. However, with the coming of income taxes and the raise in property taxes, these farmers still suffered. In addition, there was a lot of tension between railroad companies and farmers because railroad companies were overcharging farmers for the transportation of crops. However, because of a monopoly,

The South was greatly troubled by economic problems that arose as a result of the Civil War. The basis of the South’s economy, agriculture, recovered slowly and few southerners had enough money to start new industries.

The South heavily relied on slavery to keep their economy stable, although not their only source of money, but by abolishing slavery and making it illegal it would damage their economy quite badly. And so this caused a lot of tension between the North and South because they were very different economically. The South is much more agricultural, and is reliant upon exports as well. The North on the other hand is in complete contrast to the South. The North industrialised very fast and many people of poor background and some African-American succeeded and made a lot of money. It isn't very clear that if they had lived in the South if they could have achieved this much success, but those in the North faced a lot less discrimination compared to the South. "Because the economics of the dynamic industrializing North and the static agrarian South were incompatible, the two societies were on a collision course that led inexorably to war" (http://civilwartalk.com/threads/historians-evolving-views-of-civil-war-causality.21223/) Many historians agree that this was not a major cause. According to economic historian Lee A. Craig, "In fact, numerous studies by economic historians over the past several decades reveal that economic conflict was not an inherent condition of North-South

The south had a smaller population that relied on exportation of tobacco and cotton as their main source of income. The more land and slaves one owned the wealthier they were. The south was wealthy and growing but rejected the ideologies of the north. They wanted to keep the rural and conservative lifestyle. The southerners did not encourage education, manufacturing, and technological advances the way the northerners did in fact, a small percentage of southerners were

Compared to other states and nations, they weren’t as economically stable. The Confederacy government was going to experience more economic trouble because of the war. It took more money to supply the economy than the army supplying the economy. The army only produces security so it wasn’t beneficial to the economy at all. With most male farmers being a part of the war there was no one to attend to the slave so there was a lack of food and agriculture was being to deny. As a result of agricultural denying industrial and urbanization became to rise. Urbanization and industrialization broaden as the plantation economy faded, which cause cities to expand in size. With the growth of mines, factories, and iron works the Confederates economy began to grow and saw different approaches to build their economy. The urbanization grew because of the need of workers in the factories and mines, which was more tax money that the Confederate government could collect. “The Confederate nation moved so far so fast toward industrialization and urbanization that an economic revolution took place in the wartime south. (pg.

The Civil war was the most momentous and crucial period of time in the history of America. Not only did this war bring an end to slavery but also paved way for numerous social and political changes. The country had already been torn by the negative trend in race relations and the numerous cases of slave uprisings were taking their toll on the country 's political and social structure. The country was predominately divided up into 3 sections, the North, the South, and the West. Each of these groups had different fundamental interests. The North wanted economies depending on farming, factories and milltowns, while the West relied on expansion and development of land for farming and new towns. The South mainly relied on agriculture like

One of the biggest reasons the south seceded from the Union was because they believed that the north would interfere with their property rights. They thought that the north would reduce their wealth from taking land from them, as well as taking their slaves. The south believed that they would receive help from England and France, due to the need for cotton. As the Civil War began, you can clearly see the strengths and weaknesses of each economy. The North’s industrialized economy had grown incredibly to fight the south, while the South’s economy began to dip due to lack of industry and leaning so heavily on slave labor and agriculture.

While both the North and the South had stable and confident economic systems, the North was much more industrialized and diversified and with a better transportation system they not only had the ability for mass production but also the means for speedy and