The Influence of the West in American Civil War

张铂

【Abstract】After the 19th century， the West was no longer an appendage of the South and the North. During the Civil War， the North had superiority in both economy and politics. This owed much to the West. The share of the same labour system laid the foundation of the union between the North and the West. The victory of the North linked closely to the support of the West. The essay analyzed the contribution made by the West from the perspectives of economy and politics.

【Key words】the Civil War; the West; influence

During a long period in American history， the West existed as an appendage of the South at first and latter of the North. After 19th century the West came to possess her own particularity. The South， the North and the West have formed a triangle relation.

Before the year 1820 the contradictions between the South and the North have not been sharpened. However， the West — this free land， caused conflict between the South and the North. Once half of the twenty-two states in America were the free states. In 1820， the Missouri would join the Federation. Whether the Missouri would join the Federation as a state with slavery or without would break the balance of politics. So the most acute conflict between these two sides was the contest of the Western land， and in the process of the western expansion， many new states were established from 1820. On April 12th 1861， the Civil War broke out. Although the battles were between the North and the South， the West has played a decisive part in the war. Strictly speaking， the war was broken out in the condition that the North was in the superior position on both economy and politics. It should be pointed out that a large proportion of the superiority of the North belonged to the West. Why？ The most important reason was the realization of “union” in economy between the North and the West. And on this foundation they formed the alliance in politics.

Economy： After 1840s there was a great economical change in the Northeast， and she faced the deciding stage of the Industrial Revolution. “By 1850s the whole Northeast part occupied three-fourth of the employed labour in America…” At that time， the West has grown up. Both the proportion of western population and are of the farmland have increased and exceeded the South gradually. Her position in America was promoted. The West had became another big zone of agriculture competed with the cotton kingdom in the South. Because the development of railway lines has connected the West and the North， which had the same labour system， the economic connections between the West and the Northeast were established. Before the Civil War was broken out， the amount of merchandise which was transported from the West to the North was much more than to the South. The contact between the West and the North has strengthened， and the contact between the West and the South has weakened. This change of economic relation laid the foundation for the political union of the North and the West.

Politics： In the early nineteenth century the free labour system in the West and the Northeast and the slavery system in the South could not coexisted any longer. The political union of the North and the West had prompted the formation and development of the Republican Party. In the meanwhile， although the South has also made great economic development， the development has two differences from the West. Firstly， the Southern economy was based on slavery that was destined its limitation， as it was a backward social and labour system. Secondly， although the South has made great development she had to rely on slaveholders in many aspects， especially the supply of the labour force.

Other contribution： The West had supplied a large quantity of foods and equipments and many soldiers to the Union forces in the War. For example， in the war period， there were more than thousands of Ohioan soldiers joined the Union force and fought bravely in the front. We can see the victory belonged to not only the northern people but also western people.

Seen the facts mentioned above， we could not neglect the influence of the West. Of course the essential heroes of the northern victory were the northern people and slaves but we should remembered that many western people have token part in the war. The West supported the North and made great contribution to the victory of the North. If the War happened without the influence of the West， perhaps the history of the Civil War would be rewritten.

References：

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[3]David M.Kennedy，Thomas Bailey and Lizabeth Cohen，The American Pageant：A History of the American People，Wadsworth Publishing，2008.