the civil war

             Before the civil war that tore the fabric of American life, there were three sections of American people with different economic, cultural and political attitudes. The balance of power was kept by different alliances, which came up in the pre-civil war period. The west was the balancing power and it was its shift that decided the course of American history. While it was allied with the south for economic reasons, a delicate balance was maintained. The minute the west allied with the north, the shift resulted in irreconcilable differences and led to war.
             The boundaries of the sections were very fluid but the basic sections in the 1840s-1860s were the north, which included New England, New York. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the west which included the present mid-west from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa to Minnesota and the south which included Maryland to Texas and Missouri to Mississippi.
             The northeast was comparatively advanced, industrially. The dominating class comprised of the bankers, manufacturers and merchants. The growth of industry of America was mainly in the north. The northeast section was known for its trading. The merchants realized more returns in manufacturing than the early agriculture so we see a gradual but definite shift to industrial investment, which signaled the beginning of industrialism.
             The industrial capitalists were the ruling class in the north. They were the aristocrats because of their economic dominance, which also meant their dominance in the political system. In the political arena they were represented by lawyers articulating their position and their philosophy hoping to influence policy making. For example Daniel Webster, the politician from Massachusetts had the entire business community of that area behind him. The ideals from the time of the declaration of independence still remained, as there was no fear of tyranny of the majority over the minority. Checks and balanc...

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the civil war. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 08:27, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/41122.html