How Did The Railroad Contribute To The Civil War

Before the Civil War By 1835, thousands of miles of railroad tracks had been laid down in the eastern United States. New towns and factories began to pop up at train stops. Trains made it easy and cheap to transport goods. The Native Americans did not like the railroads.

The Mexican-American War did not directly lead to the Civil War as much as abolitionism and the issue of slavery did. One could argue that with the Compromise of 1850, following the Mexican-American War, creating the Fugitive Slave Act and creating tension between the north and south because the north did not follow the Fugitive Slave Act, which angered the south. But the major cause of the Civil War was slavery and abolitionism, which was obvious because Abraham Lincoln, the president during this era, abolished slavery during the war while the north was winning and believed that they would win the war. This was called the Emancipation Proclamation. The Civil War is also called the “War to Make Men Free.”

During the antebellum period, the huge differences existed between the North and the South in many ways. To begin with, the economy of the North once was similar to that of the South; however, as the U.S. started to develop economically, the North became more industrialized. With the advent of the new technologies, factories in the North could produce more things than before to supply the strong market demand of the nation. On the contrary, the South still was a farming region where farmers mainly worded on plantations to grow cotton. To make more profits, the wealthy plantation owners in the South started to force slaves to labor on the plantations.

The Underground Railroad was a passageway for slaves to escape from their owners approximately from 1780 to 1862. One of the causes of the Civil War was The Underground Railroad. In fact, it wasn’t a railroad or underground. It wasn't run by a person or an organization.

It can be argued that the Missouri Compromise not only put off the start of the Civil War, but was also a cause. Many contributing factors led up to the Civil War in the years following the passing after the Missouri Compromise. Years after the Missouri Compromise went into effect, Congress passed the Tariff Act of 1833, sometimes called the Compromise Tariff. This was proposed by Henry Clay, and called for the gradual reduction of tariffs, ending the Nullification Crisis. In 1846, United States’ President James Polk requested 2 million dollars to purchase land from Mexico following the Mexican-American War.

I believe there were some similarities in the Civil War between The North and The South, but there were also a lot of differences with technology, and The North had the advantage. In the Spring of 1861, decades of simmering tensions between the northern and southern united states over issues including states rights versus federal authority, westward expansion and slavery exploded into the American Civil War(1861-1865). The election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 caused seven states to secede. (Causes)

The Civil War was a dark time in America’s history. Many causes led up to the gruesome fight that affected America forever. The North and South’s animosity created a large gap between the two. Eventually the South seceded, breaking the union. They became the Confederacy, and the North and South began to anticipate a horrific battle.

Both Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad played a huge role in causing the Civil War. They both helped slaves escape the torture that they had to face every day, and were able to give them the lives that they deserved. Many enslaved people’s lives were changed due to the generosity and courage of Harriet Tubman and anyone else who worked on the Underground Railroad. These people risked their freedom everyday helping these slaves whom they did not even know, all because they knew that what they had to face was inhumane. The world was forever changed by the efforts that Harriet Tubman and everyone else put into the Underground Railroad, and we will always recognize the sacrifice that they had to make.

The American Civil War that was started due to the controversy over slavery in 1861, was won by The Union supported by President Lincoln against the Confederate states. President Lincoln’s original goal during the civil war was to reunify the nation as quickly as possible and help both sides come to an understanding. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the newly formed United States’ reconstruction era began. The Reconstruction era was put into effect by the Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. The Union’s victory in the Civil War had given African Americans a new sense of hope, devastated the southern economy, and eased the history of disunity in American political life.

The transcontinental railroad caused a lot of political impacts including uniting divided houses. In the 1850s, the greatest obstacle building the transcontinental railroad was the sectionalism in the American politics: between the North and the South. The biggest barrier in getting the railroad built in the mid-century in America is slavery. Congress had to make a decision whether or not slavery should be allowed in the new territory that was made easily accessible but the transcontinental railroad. Abraham Lincoln, the president, was less known as a great friend of the railroad.

Transportation played a key role in allowing the Union to defeat the Confederate States of America. Transportation in the 1860’s was difficult, because it was fairly limited. Especially during the Civil War, with many people and communities wanting to use these things to transport goods or men wherever needed. One type that played a major factor were railroads, there was a major growth in the 1850’s so by 1861 there was 22,000+ miles of track in the northern states, and 9,500+ in the South (Railroads In The Civil War). Countries and town have always fought over who is to control the supply centers or railroads, but with the confederate government to slow to recognize the importance of them, they weren’t in good shape by 1963.

The Civil War was the first war to use railroads and turn them into a weapon of war. During the Civil War railroads became the vital new technology for both the Union and Confederate forces. The great distances separating armies, the need for supplies, and quicker troop movements all increased the need for the railroad. Without this new weapon the Civil War may have lasted until the last man was literally left standing. The ability to implement and use the railroads in the Civil War would play a crucial role in the North’s victory and the South’s defeat.

The Civil War is one of the most important and crucial crisis in US history. Many southern states starting with South Carolina were angry with the federal government at the time so they decided to secede from the union. An underlying cause behind secession were the restrictions on slavery including the ban on the importation of slaves and the attempted banning of slavery in new territories. The north’s reason for fighting was different though, President Lincoln declared it was illegal to secede from the union even if the state decided to in a democratic election. The North had also wanted to keep the farms and ports in the south in order to increase trading.