The Economic Impact of the Civil War on America

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The Civil War began in 1861 and did not conclude until 1865 in the Appomattox Court House when Lee surrendered. While it was not an extremely long war, it heavily impacted different aspects of The United States. The Civil War most significantly impacted American society economically. Because of its dramatic affect on all of Americas, the spread of trade through railroads, and also the dispersion of wealth, America was impacted most economically. One way that proves that America was impacted the most economically is the fact that the economic changes that occurred after the war affected everyone. For instance, blacks became sharecroppers, and no longer worked for free. This demonstrates that the freeing of slaves spread wealth more evenly throughout the country since Southern plantations now had to pay for their workers. With the win for the Union, it caused the country to shift into an industrial nation. This economical change lead to an increase in global trade because of industrial advancements in both the people in the North and the South. At the closing of the Civil War, a single currency had been created protective tariffs implemented, and war bonds were issued. When the North won, it set a precedent of greater Federal power which the government used to support the growing economy- shown in the money, tariffs, and bonds. Despite these solid reasons to prove that the economy was most significantly impacted, there are some historians that believe otherwise. Opposing views claim that by the mid-1870s, output of all Souths distinctive crops were similar to that in the 1860. These historians use this statistic to show that the economy did not necessarily change in the South. On the other hand, this statistic does not show the whole truth of how the South was affected economically. While the crop output did stay the same, industry still increased vastly in the South. And since it had little to no industry to begin with this was a drastic change for the region as a whole. The Civil War most significantly impacted America economically because of the building of railroads that were created during and after the war. This allowed trading to increase immensely throughout the country. Also it lead to the boost in industry since goods and supplies could be transferred with ease to different areas in the country.

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