The Civil War marked a major turning point in economic, political, and social status’ of Northern and Southern populations during the 1860’s due to differing levels of resources and support for the opposing sides. It was a central event in history that truly sparked consciousness in America. While the Revolution of 1776 created the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865 determined what kind of nation it would be. The war resolved two fundamental questions left unresolved by the revolution: whether the United States was to be a dissolvable union of independent states or an indivisible nation with a dominant national government; and whether this nation, born on a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world.
During the war, the Southern and Northern economic statuses were exponentially different. The North was experiencing a time of great economic growth as industries began to grow and newer, more modern technology became available. By 1860, about 90 percent of the nation’s manufacturing came from the northern states which proved to have an immense impact on its war-winning ability. For every 100 firearms produced by the South, the North had made 3,200. The South on the other hand remained predominantly based in agriculture and the dwindling slave market. Even in the agricultural sector, Northern farmers were out-producing their southern counterparts in several important areas, as Southern agriculture remained labor intensive while northern agriculture became increasingly mechanized. Due to this lag in innovation, the South also only held about 29 percent of the nation’ s railroad tracks and only about 13 percent of the nation’s banks. As the war dragged on, the Union's advantages in factories, railroads, and manpower put the Confederacy at a great disadvantage.