curriculum connections Civil War Home Front and the Economy
Introduction Civil War forms part of the Curriculum Connections series Each of the six volumes of the set covers a particular aspect of the conflict Home Front and the Economy Behind the Fighting Weapons Tactics and Strategy Politics Battles and Campaigns and People About this set Each volume in Civil War features illustrated chapters providing in-depth information about each subject The chapters are all listed in the contents pages of each book Each volume can be studied to provide a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the conflict However each chapter may also be studied independently Within each chapter there are two key aids to learning that are to be found in color sidebars located in the margins of each page Curriculum Context sidebars indicate to the reader that a subject has a particular relevance to certain key state and national history guidelines and curricula They highlight essential information or suggest useful ways for students to consider a subject or to include it in their studies Glossary sidebars define key words within the text At the end of the book a summary Glossary lists the key terms defined in the volume There is also a list of further print and Web-based resources and a full volume index Fully captioned illustrations play an important role throughout the set including photographs and explanatory maps 4 Home Front and the Economy
About this book Home Front and the Economy places the conflict that followed the secession of the Southern states in 1861 and the creation of the Confederacy in the context of its impact on daily life in the North and the South For many families in the North far from the fighting life went on much as normal In the South on the other hand the war caused shortages of food and other goods Many women were forced into work to replace men who were away fighting while many children found their education interrupted by a lack of teachers One of the main causes of the war was economic the reliance of the South on cotton and the reliance of the cotton plantations in turn on the peculiar institution of slavery Despite Southern hopes an embargo of cotton exports failed to force European nations to recognize the Confederacy Instead a Northern blockade of Southern ports stifled imports and exports and led to severe hardship When the conflict started the North had the advantage in terms of resources and industry Once the fighting began the North’s ability to produce more gunpowder weapons and ammunition medicines and supplies greatly benefited its military strategy Its far greater network of railroad tracks meanwhile allowed it to move large numbers of troops rapidly over long distances In one of the earliest examples of industrialized warfare the North’s economic superiority would prove decisive Introduction 5
