Examining the Cival War

A war that seemed to divide a nation, in the end marked the beginning of a truly United States. The Civil war was a necessary misfortune that finally put to rest the increasing sectionalism that divided the North, the South, and the newly colonized West. At the root were the issues of slavery in the South, and the attempt of the Southern states to withdraw from the Union. Although hundreds of thousands of lives were lost and untold millions of dollars were lost in personal belongings, livestock, and structures, the Civil War set in motion the progression towards a unified Nation.

Slavery was very significant for many aspects of the development of the nation during the 18th and 19th century. Although morally wrong, the economic, social, and political development of the nation during this period was directly associated to slavery. Regarded as evil and inconsistent with the principles of the Declaration of Independence, slavery emerged as a system of forced labor designed for the production of staple crops (Slavery in the United States, 2002). Depending on the location, these crops included sugar, tobacco, coffee, and cotton. Cotton did not emerge as the leading cash crop until 1793, when Eli Whitney; an inventor from New Haven Connecticut, invented the Cotton Gin, a machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber. Eli Whitney's machine could produce up to 50 pounds of cleaned cotton daily, making southern cotton a profitable crop for the first time” (Bellis, 2004).

This boom in the cotton industry created a need for labor to plant, cultivate, and process the cotton; and the primary labor was slaves. The dependence on slave labor was fueled the South’s economic growth and prosperity. The cotton industry was very successful for the South, which helped the national economy grow at a rapid rate for many years. “The cotton trade was the major expansive force in the economy until 1839” (Davidson et al, 2002). Transportation and industry also expanded as a direct result of the boom of the cotton industry. “Northern factories increasingly made money by turning raw cotton into cloth, while northern merchants reaped profits from shipping the cotton and then reshipping the textiles” (Davidson et al, 2002).

This capital being injected into the economy all across the nation helped spark the integration of the national market economy. Infrastructure was being built to support the trade. Examples of this infrastructure include canals, railroads, and later communications such as the telegraph. The money being made from the cotton industry helped to finance the Westward expansion. In summary, the nation was becoming dependent on slave labor to provide the cash crop that was driving the economy.

Socially, the nation was starting to become more diverse. Slavery helped to provide these separate regions with the resources they needed to make this possible. The different regions of the nation started to take on their own respective identities. These identities developed as a result of the culture of the areas and the diverse interests of the regions. The North became more industrial as a result of the industry for the production of cotton. The South was rural and the culture of the South developed to reflect this type of lifestyle.

At the heart of this unity was an agricultural system that took advantage of the region’s warm climate and long growing season. Most important, this rural agricultural economy was based on the institution of slavery, which had far-reaching effects on all aspects of southern society. (Davidson et al, 2002)

The West was growing rapidly during the 19th century. The people who lived there were independent, and many sought to make a better life for themselves and their families. The social identity of the West developed as a result of their lifestyle and the needs of these people to succeed in their endeavors.

Politically, the nation was affected very deeply. Slavery became such an important issue in the 19th century that it eventually led the South to break away from the United States and form their own nation. This succession from the Union caused the Civil War. The reason that slavery was such an important issue was because each region of the nation saw the issue from very different viewpoints.

The nation started as a nation where slavery was legal and common; however, by the 19th century slavery was a southern phenomenon. “Even more than agrarian ways, slavery set the South apart. Whereas in 1776 slavery had been a national institution, by 1820 it was confined to the states south of Pennsylvania and the Ohio River” (Davidson et al, 2002). This division of interests set the different regions of the nation at odds with one another. The North profited from slavery, but started to see slavery as un-American. The abolitionists started campaigns to end slavery throughout