The Civil War left an impressionable mark on the nation as a whole – physically, economically, and furthermore politically. Two of the nations regions most affected was the South and the West. While the south gained political strentgh through a “solid south” Democracy, thier weak reliance on the crop lien system adversel affected thier econmy; meanwhile the farmers migrated to the west because of the Homestead Act, thier economy suffered in part because of over production, but united to form one of the most popular third parties in American history – the Populists.
The Civil War is an example of a sectional war whose results left most of American nation in a weak state, which is illustrated especially in the South. Upon the end of the Civil War, a new ideology of th south developed known as the “New South Creed,” encouraging Southeners to diversify the economy by industrializing and become independant of northern manufactoring industries. Although the intial intent was well motivated, the South did not industrialized, whith exceptions to textile mills.
Instead, because of the heavy reliance of staple cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, the South shifted into a new system of argicultural known as the crop lein system, which resulted in a cycle of debt that led the South further into debt. The system itself designed only to pay farmers once a year, was a failure and a problem to the farmers because it forced them to buy thier tools and land on credit – adding to the exixsting poster war debts.
Although the Southern region was weakened economically because of debt and dependance on “King Cottom,” it did gain political strength through the use of “Solid South” Southern politics, after the Civil War, shifted directly into the opposing view of the North, and quickly all of the Confederacy merged, politically speaking, into what has become known as the “Solid South” with most states voting always Democratic. These dems in turn wanted an atenbellum South, but could not achieve it constiutionally.
While the South struggled through its failing argicultural system and gained victory in major supremem courty decisions, the West’s economy was aided through the opening of western lands, as well as by the formations of a new and popular third partyt known as the Populists which contributed directly to the Democractic Platform. The west, known mostly as the being the most liberal region of the nation, was affected by the Civil War; this region was plagued by low farm prices which in turn affected the economy and politics of the region.
The Homestead Act of 1862,m opened up new land to the west for any interested farmer for up to five years. This brought many interested migrants to settle here, which providewd the North with food supply, but turned out to be weak land. This act provided for the west to become populated in a means of which also contributed to the over production of crops, leading to the decrease in farm prices, a major factor for the discomfort of many farmers.
