1. Post Civil War America
Halana Dash, Olivia DiPrimio, Liz Gassman
Halana Dash, Olivia DiPrimio, Liz Gassman

2. Evaluate the impact of the Civil War on
political and economic developments in
TWO of the following groups:
• The South
• The North
• The West
Focus your answer on the period between
1865 and 1900.

3. •
The South because the
Many families suffered from hunger and poverty
father/husband fell in battle.
• Houses and towns had been destroyed due to battle.
• Shops had been destroyed, livestock killed, crops burned, etc. The
economy was sinking after the war.
• “lines of “sickly-faced women, jaundiced old men and children in rags,
with here and there a seedy gentleman who had seen better days, or a
stately female in faded apparel…whom the war had reduced to want,”
stood their turn in line for any of the conqueror's hand-outs.”
• The pillaging and burning was blind to economic and social status. Many
aristocrats also fell victim to returning home only to find there was no
home.
• Because white people had been suffering in the South, they passed
laws which prohibited black men from voting. This was called
“redemption.”
• A period of Reconstruction took place, which involved “handling” race
relations and rebuilding the land which had been destroyed in the war.
• Slaves did not enjoy the “emancipation” they had been promised. After
they had been freed, they had been so unwelcome in the outside world
(and unable to find work), that they went back to their previous owners

4. The North
• The North, like the West, experienced an industrial boom. Thousands of
miles of railroads had been laid on the East coast.
• In Western PA, steel mills had been built in order to help build the railroads.
• The quality of goods produced in the North equaled the quality of those
produced in Britain. Because of this, the North saw an economic boom as
well.
• Because of the troops heavy consumption of goods, there was little left for
those who stayed at home (women, men injured from war, etc...). This issue
was resolved relatively quickly when the war ended. The Northern half of
the country did not suffer in the way the South did.
• The divide between the North and South still existed after the war due to
opinions on slavery. Politicians from the North typically favored abolition,
while Southerners opted to uphold the practice.

5. The West
• Chinese workers were recruited because they worked for little money.
Their arrival sparked the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned Chinese
immigration for 10 years.
• The discovery of gold in Nevada and California sparked a Western
economic boom and encouraged travel to the region.
• The economy of the West relied largely on mining, farming, and ranching.
• The Native American population fell victim to the increased travel and
settling in the West; they were forced out of their homes and many
perished during their journeys to find new land.
• MANIFEST DESTINY! The idea that it was the destiny of Americans to
acquire new land and travel/settle out West started after the Civil War.
Industry boomed; railroads and telegram lines were built along with the
discovery of ample natural resources.
• The North did not come out of the war unscathed; they too took part in
Reconstruction

6. Thesis
• The Civil War brought ensuing prosperity
to the Northern and Western regions of
the United States, while the South
suffered an economic decline. Politics
and race relations throughout the nation
did not change dramatically; the West was
influenced largely by those who lived in
the North simply because they were the
ones traveling out West.

7. Thesis
• The Civil War brought ensuing prosperity
to the Northern and Western regions of
the United States, while the South
suffered an economic decline. Politics
and race relations throughout the nation
did not change dramatically; the West was
influenced largely by those who lived in
the North simply because they were the
ones traveling out West.