What changes took place in the country as a result of the civil war?

Answer 1

Before the civil war, each railroad used its own gage for the distance between tracks. At the beginning of the war, the Union established a standard gage between the tracks of 4' 8&1/2". A train car loaded anywhere in union territory could go from any one point to any other without needing to stop and be reloaded. This gave the United States a fantastic transportation system. Europe had nothing like it until the establishment of the European Union. China had nothing like it until the last few years. India, with only the government allowed to invest in its rail system and the government unwilling to invest in it, still does not.

The South had a number of factories before the war. They were nothing like the northern factories. The South could produce iron guns and iron cannon. Enfield made steel rifles. They were better. The Union used Carnegie steel for its cannon. Early in the war the South used British cannon made with steel. Gradually those became chocked off. Many other factories in the South were gradually burned down. Macon, GA, was spared so Bibb manufacturing remained. Likewise LaGrange, GA, was spared. Callaway Mills has gone from manufacturing cotton to making Golf Clubs.

Still, the Northern part of the United States began producing the manufactured goods which the nation, both north and south had imported from England before the Civil War.

Slavery ended. The South was broke. The attempts by the Reconstruction Congress to punish the former Confederate Solders proved to be a major fiasco. President Johnson following a suggestion in the Federalist Papers provided a partial pardon for all the former Confederate Solders. That almost got him impeached but it restored order in a lawless environment.

Both sides lost about the same number of men in the war. The South lost a far greater percentage of men. Since the South needed every able bodied male it could get, most of the former slaves remained behind to work the fields for wages or shares. The North experienced a large influx of foreign laborers to work in the factories and on the new railroads.

After the Civil War, the Southern Women started producing babies. When they were grown, Some remained on the farm, a large number both white and black migrated north and west to work.

So the main effect was the establishment of standards and a fantastic manufacturing system.