ABSTRACT
The Civil War marked a turning point in American economic history. War hastened the coming of the Industrial Revolution, gave unionism its real beginning, and greatly increased agricultural productivity. For the North, ultimate victory meant the establishment of public policies favorable to the rising industrial and financial interests. For the South, final defeat meant a great social and economic revolution: the dominant planter aristocracy was overthrown and slavery was abolished. The New South was to develop a much more diversified economy than had existed before the war. The Civil War did not end sectional antagonisms, but it settled the question of secession and established the supremacy of the federal government.
