THE CIVIL WAR AND INDUSTRIALIZATION: RESPONSE PAPER 3

THE CIVIL WAR AND INDUSTRIALIZATION: RESPONSE PAPER 3

Civil War (1861-1865)

The civil war holds significant importance in the history of America. If the Revolution of 1776-1783 gave rise to the nation of USA, then the civil war of 1861-1865 determined how the Americans will turn out as a nation in the entire world. The Civil war was started due to the conflict between the Free states and the slave states. The differences were raised to put pressure on the federal government to prohibit slavery in the states that were not completely developed at that time. The victory by the Northern in the civil war turned the nation into one consolidated strong nation and completely eradicated the idea of slavery from the nation that was the main cause behind the war. But this achievement of a one strong nation came at a huge cost of people's lives. Around 625,000 people died during this civil war that included both civilians as well as American soldiers. The American civil war is still known as the most destructive war that happened in the Western world (Civilwar.org, 2013).

Catalyst for Economic Change

There were four important pieces of legislations passed during the Civil war for the economic framework of the nation. They were significantly important to the Northern economic development for several years even after the war. The Morrill Tariff of 1861 had raised the rates by 20% that were declining for the past decade. Under the Transcontinental railroad act, they enacted the funding for the three transcontinental railroads. The Homestead Act assigned around 160 acres of land in the western areas to anybody who had lived there for more than five years and had the intention of becoming a US citizen. Finally, the Morrill Land Grant Act proposed the idea of ...