Research

The effects of Industrial Production on the Civil War.
The Civil War had many different causes, but the one of the biggest causes was Industrial Production. Industrial production was a major problem because; the northern region had production advantages over the southern region, other acts that were passed affected the work forces, the economies in both regions were completely different, and the federal government ruled what the Northern and Southern regions did, and many people did not like this. The general idea of Industrial Production had a huge affect on the war, because the production in the regions was unequal. The Northern region had more advantages, meaning they were able to produce more. On the other hand, the Southern region did not have as many advantages as the North, therefore making production unequal. Our main goal in the creation of our Equality Compromise and our video is to prevent the inequality that resulted from the advantages the North had over the South. Through preventing the inequality of work, and by creating “The Equality Compromise”, we hope to resolve the conflict and tension that resided between the Northern and Southern regions, therefore preventing The Civil War.

Industrial production was very unfair in the regions. The Northern region had a huge advantage of machinery and more workers, therefore more items were produced and the region made more money. Around the time of The Civil War, the Northern region had the advantage of 1.3 million people working as industrial workers. On the other hand, there were only 110,000 people working as industrial workers in the South. On top of the employee advantages, “Northern industrial production was valued at $1.5 billion compared to $155 million for the South.” (Streich; 4 February 2009) Production in the South was slower then production in the North because the South had only slaves working, therefore production was slower because they were the only people working, meaning that there were less people producing items to be sold. With both regions having different focuses, money and workers weren't the only factors in Industrial Revolution that caused The Civil War.

The main causes that fall under The Industrial Revolution category are the cotton gin, Bleeding Kansas, the economy, and state's rights. The cotton gin was significant to the outbreak of the Civil War, because it was responsible for creating a lot of tension between the Northern and Southern regions. When the invention of the cotton gin came around, since the North was wealthier, they were able to afford cotton gin's. The capability of having the cotton gin sped of the production of cotton in the Nothern Region, therefore making the North even more wealthy, and causing tension between the North and the South. A second significant reason to the outbreak was Bleeding Kansas. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. The act was significant, because it allowed Kansas and Nebraska to decide upon whether or not they wanted slavery. The Act angered the people of the South, because the slaves were locked into slavery, while other states had the decision of whether or not they could ban slavery in their state. This angered slaves, and caused many of them to flee. A third significant reason to the outbreak was the economies in both regions. The Northern region was focused on industry and nothing more. The focus on industry brought raw cotton, and was turned into many finished goods. On the other hand, the Southern region was more of a "one crop economy" and they greatly depended on the work of slaves, and cotton. In other words, the North was focused on Industry, while the South was focused on the plantation system. The North had more workers, while the South did not. Overall, the Northern region had many more advantages over the South, making their economy financially better. The last main reason to the outbreak was states' rights. The federal government had complete control over the individual states' governments, and the federal government passed laws that many states were against. In particular, the federal government passed laws that went against the economics of the South. These laws limited slavery, allowing the Southern states to have less production, meaning they made less money.

As a group, our idea is to create a compromise entitled "The Equality Compromise". We believe that The Equality Compromise will prevent The Civil War, because it will enforce rules that deal with the economies, production, trade, and rights of both regions. Originally, The Northern and Southern regions had many problems because; the economies were completely different, production was different, there was slavery in one region and none in another, one region had more money than the other, and there were more workers in the North than the South. The main problem we see through the smaller controversies is money, and inequality in work. Through the creation of The Equality Compromise, our group is striving to even out the amount of items being produced in each region, end slavery, and ensure that the production and amount of workers in each region is equal. Through equality, the compromise will ensure that there will be no conflicts or tensions between the two regions, because one region will not produce or have more workers than the other; both regions will be equal, therefore there will be nothing to fight over.

In conclusion, one of the major causes of The Civil War was Industrial Production. The causes that fall under industrial production are the cotton gin, Bleeding Kansas, the economy, and states' rights. The cotton gin sped up production in the North, giving the Nothern region the advantage of making more money. Bleeding Kansas allowed Kansas and Nebraska to decide upon slavery, and this angered the slaves in the Southern region. The economies were completely different in both regions, allowing one economy to be more wealthy than the other, creating conflict and tension. States' rights were ruled by the government, meaning the South had many disadvantages, since the federal government put laws down on slavery. As a group, we believe that "The Equality Compromise" will prevent the outbreak of The Civil War because it will end slavery, create equality amongst the economies, set limits on workers and hours worked, allow trade, and much more. Through equality of the regions, tension will be resolved, slavery will be ended, people will be equally paid, and The Civil War will have never existed.


 * Sources:**

Streich, Michael. "Northern Advantages in the Civil War." Population, Industrial Capacity, and Railroads Help the North Read more at Suite101: Northern Advantages in the Civil War: Population, Industrial Capacity, and Railroads Help the North http://www.suite101.com/content/northern-advantages-in-the-civil-war-a94205#ixzz17vlNE4iw(2009): n. pag. Web. 12 Dec 2010. .

www.about.com,. "Civil War - History of the Civil War." n. pag. Web. 12 Dec 2010. .

Dogra, Aastha. "Causes of the Civil War." (2010): n. pag. Web. 12 Dec 2010. .