GCSE History (OCR A)

The American West Topic Summaries

Civil War (1861–1865)

Economic divisions between Union and Confederacy

The Northern economy The Southern economy
  • Increasingly industrialised and diversified
  • Biggest industries: manufacturing, railroads, banking, commerce
  • Favoured protective tariffs to support domestic industry
  • Free labour ideology in favour of social mobility

Therefore: opposed to slavery
  • Overwhelmingly agrarian and dependent on slave labour
  • Biggest industries: cotton production and plantations
  • Production was not profitable without slavery
  • Southern elites feared a collapse of their wealth and economic system

Therefore: in favour of slavery
  • Economic differences reinforced cultural and political divisions between North and South.
    • The North increasingly viewed slavery as economically backward and morally wrong.
    • The South viewed Northern economic policies as exploitative and threatening to Southern autonomy.
  • These economic tensions made compromise more difficult and contributed to the decision to secede.

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