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The North's Economy During The Civil War

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As the Civil War was about to begin, the American Economy was changing from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. Since the early 1800’s, the United States was largely an agricultural economy, due to the cotton industry. By the late 1810’s, cotton had become the greatest export the United States had. One reason for that is Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin had increased cotton production to a possible 50 pounds of cotton per day per machine. In the 1840’s, the United States began to produce approximately two-thirds of the world’s cotton. Cotton was largely grown in the south because of the better climate and soil conditions for large plantations. However, the North’s climate was much better suited for an …show more content…

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. One of the biggest advantages the North had was the railroad system. The North had a lot more railroad on its side, which could move anything from soldiers to supplies to weapons. The South’s economy had gone downhill due to blockades on southern exports. No foreign country would ever have loaned money to the south because nobody had any idea if the south would make it through the war. At the end of the war, the southern economy was completely destroyed after making so many economical mistakes and having so much of their property destroyed. The northern economy, however, was growing drastically due to the industrial

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