Another Civil War Essay, Research Paper
Socioeconomic reasons for the causes and outcome of the
Civil War Analyzing the causes and the eventual outcome of
the American Civil War can be a difficult task when you
look at all the issues at once. The fields of the political,
economic and sociological differences between the Union
and the Confederacy are were we find the bulk of the
answers as why the two regions of the United States
separated. When trying to discuss the Civil War we must
first explain why the Confederate states seceded and just as
importantly, how they were defeated. When trying to find the
causes and the outcomes of the Civil War, I’ve chosen to
bypass the political reasons and would rather discuss the
areas of economic and sociological conflict. It is hard to
discuss one of these aspects without showing how closely it
is tied into the other. Economy is the child of sociological
conditions and in turn sociological conditions predict an
areas economic success and potential. Because of this strong
interrelationship between the two, the word "socioeconomic"
is best suited to describe this important area of conflict
between the North and the South. Almost a question of
civilization versus barbarism the war between the North and
the South showed America who held more power and
whose way would lead us into a future for all Americans.
The North and South were divided along an invisible
economic line. States in the North were more industrialized
than states in the South. In the South, cotton and tobacco
provided the economy. These plantation crops created an
economic situation based entirely upon agriculture. This was
in stark contrast too the heavily industrialized Northern cities
in America. Slave labor provided the workforce on the
Southern plantations and along with crops were the
backbone of Southern economic power. Slave labor, which
turned the wheels on the vast plantations growing tobacco
and cotton, created an entirely different socioeconomic
climate then the one found in the North. The inherent conflict
between the progressive, industrialized, urbane North and
the plantation lifestyle, made possible by cotton, tobacco
and slave labor, ultimately revealed a nation sharply divided
along socioeconomic lines. The Civil War or "the war
between the states", was the inevitable outcome of a
developing nation uncertain as to whether it should remain
progressive and industrialized or genteel and slowmoving.
Unquestionably, the tobacco economy of the South as well
as its cotton products were of vast importance to the entire
nation. Still, the social structure of plantation life with its
legacy and dependency upon slave labor, would not be
tolerated by Northern states for much longer. A continued
cry for emancipation and abolition by president Lincoln and
others, both in the North and the South, fueled a war that
teared our nation apart. However, the Southern lifestyle was
not all mint juleps and afternoons on the verandah. While the
climate in the South was balmy and well conditioned to crop
growing, many Northerners mistakenly assumed the South
and its people were lazy. They rejected the Southern work
ethic as "no work ethic at all." Many Northerners believed
that they were the power base of the nations economy, and
in many aspects they were. The Northern culture was
disassociating itself on many levels from its Southern
counterpart. The debate over slavery was "the straw that
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plantation owners and crop growers would be forced to
restructure their entire reality. The Southern plantation
aristocracy was a stunning concept, but times were changing.
Even though it was our agriculture that brought our nation its
first economic power, our growth towards industrialization
grew more important by the minute. Pressures from across
the Atlantic to abolish slavery were being heeded by the
North and shunned by the South. No European or foreign
power would dictate policy and lifestyle to the headstrong
Southern plantation culture. Internal strife, yielding nothing
less than Civil War, would ultimately keep a domestic issue
domestic. The "statesman of the lost cause", strongly
believed in the honor, culture, economy and structure of the
South. On the opposite side, Northerners were no less
passionate about their cause. The Civil War emerged as a
spectacular and inevitable ending to a prolonged clash of
cultures- both social and economic. The obvious outcome of
the Civil War was the defeat of the Southern states and their
Confederate army, government and way of life. The North
had forged a policy to abolish slavery and the North had
power, money, talent and hardware (all products of their
particular industrialized economy and culture) to go through
with it. After the embargo on Southern goods and blockade
all but a few nails were left to hammer into the Confederate
coffin. The cultural and economic policies forged in the
South were no match for the Northern war- machine. The
Northern war- machine was the product of a powerful
economy which included shipping, importing, exporting,
banking, factories and much else. The South had crops as
far as the eye could see. Were the North had factories and
ports, the South had plantations and slave auctions. The
nations power structure was basically in the North. By 1861,
the North was in a position of total dominance. They had a
better army, better weapons, and were in a better position to
win. The South had a lot of pride and product, but not much
else. Another major factor is that the population density on
the South was overwhelmed by the North. The South
following secession from the Union began with creating their
own nation. They had to print currency, form political
structure and organize an army -all things the North already
had. They had to develop an army and system that did not
exist before. Even though the Confederacy yielded Robert E
Lee, arguably the most famous military figure if the war, he
was most notable because he lost. He lost because the
fledgling confederacy was a "house of cards" waiting to
collapse. They never had a realistic chance although they put
up an awe inspiring four year fight. The socioeconomic
differences between the North and the South were
astounding. From the beginnings of secession the South was
fighting a losing battle. The moral stand and power of the
North was the main reason why the South disliked them.
They two never seemed to agree on anything for too long.
The American Civil War was a tragic necessity for a country
whose commitment to democracy made its many of its
institutions, like slavery, obsolete in time. Politics aside, the
socioeconomic reasons for the causes and the eventual
outcome of the Civil War are the most interesting and
probing aspects of two vastly different cultures destined for
battle. Courtesy of chew (1996) University of Maryland