A look at the American economy and society before the Civil War and the factors leading up to the war.
This paper examines the socio-economic state of the United States prior to the Civil War. It questions whether these factors contributed to the outbreak of the war. It looks at the living standards of people comparing the city dwellers to the country and farm dwellers. It also examines the bout of technology and modernization which existed mostly in the North. The differences between the North and South are stressed and questioned for their significance in being a catalyst for the war.
“Geographic sectionalism leading to conflicting attitudes and issues in a growing and diverse new country was the underlying and basic cause of the US Civil War. Up until the time of the Missouri debates, there was a common understanding and agreement of adherence to the principles initially joining 13 diverse colonies into the country that would be the United States. The Civil War was the culmination of four decades of intense conflict and deep-seated economic, social and political differences between the North and the South.”