Question

Compare the economic systems of the North and the South in the 30 years before the Civil War and explain how those systems affected the outcome of the war.

Answer 1

Answer:

In the years before the Civil War, the North had surged forward with industrial production and this led to the emergence of a large urban population and indeed a larger population than the South as many people came to work there. The North also had a lot of rail lines to transport their goods and ship building yards to send goods abroad.

This was in contrast to the South that was mostly rural and depended a lot of plantations. Rail lines were not as much and industry compared to the North was significantly backward. Their population was also significantly less than the North.

This influenced the outcome of the war in Union favor because the Union was able to field more soldiers who were also better equipped and could be moved around the country relatively quickly to support multiple fronts. The ships built by the North were able to blockade the South and deny them any international support as a result.