Civil War Project
By Christian Dunn
Three "Big" Outline Questions
- What were the significant economic interests that propelled the Civil War forward?
- Why did the Civil War take as long as it did to come to an end?
- How did the civil war ultimately force the United States to be even more united?
- Questions © Christian Dunn 2/21/2008
An Introduction to the Civil War
The United States, having not even reached 100 years of age as a union, were sharply divided in the mid-1800s. The division was between the states in the North and the states in the South. It was a house divided, and the result was nothing less than Civil War. Fueled by an economic desire to have complete control over the agricultural powerhouse of the South, the North could not tolerate the secession movement. The South would not tolerate the economic practices that were being put into practice that gave an advantage to Northern industry while squeezing profit from the South.
As a result of the differences, following the secession of the Southern states, the Confederate States of America were declared an enemy to the Union, and the industrial powerhouse of the north resolved to face the South with force so that they would rejoin the Union. The outcome of the war was in general determined by economic interests and economic principles, sparked by the fact that the South had something that was critical to the economy and it would not be allowed to separate itself, and finished by the fact that the superior industrial might of the North enabled its victory.
Immediately after the first battles of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln acted to ensure that the already economically inferior South was cut off from its supplies. Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports on April 19th of 1861, effectively ensuring the South would be cut off from the lifeblood of trade that could have provided the states with supplies. Though the discipline amongst the Federal troops was minimal, the vast amount of war supplication from Northern industry would eventually provide for their winning of the war. It is remarkable that the war lasted as long as it did with the vastly unmatched nations that were fighting.
A Conclusion to the Civil War
As is well known, the Northern states won the Civil War, and therefore the Union remained united, and the United States became known as a single entity instead of a collective. That is, people referred to the United States by saying that the "United States is" (single entity), as opposed to "the United States are" (collective entity). Economic truths played a major factor in this, and the North, with their superior economic resources, and having spent two times more than the South for the war effort (Ransom, Roger, "Economics of the Civil War"), were able to win the war largely because of this. Government chaos in the North (Lincoln appointed several people to lead the military before he selected Ulysses S. Grant) and the military geniuses in the South combined to make the Civil War last for about 4 years, causing it to be the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil.
The result of the war was ultimately highly beneficial for the North, which reaped the resources of the South, which was left in devastation for decades while Reconstruction was occurring. Following the war, the United States became known as a single entity, a single nation, as opposed to a collective entity, a nation of many states. Following the Civil War, the United States of America were no longer the same as they were before the war, and state sovereignty was lessened. Ultimately, however, the nation and all of its states recovered from the Civil war, and the institution of slavery was abolished once and for all. Although economic interests were a driving force for the Civil War, particularly the economics of the South that were dependent on slavery, after the Civil War, industry continued, and the nation's economy ultimately stabilized again. The United States were one, for better or for worse.
Bibliography
"U.S. Civil War 1861-1865 Timeline." The History Place (1996) 21 FEB 2008 <http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html>Ransom, Roger. "Economics of the Civil War". EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. August 25, 2001. 21 FEB 2008 <http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us>
Thornton, Mark. "The Economics of the Civil War." Lewrockwell.com 13 JAN 2004 21 FEB 2008 <http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton10.html>