Confederate Railroad Network

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The mid-19th century, an era of change in both the economic and political arena. Rapid advancement and growth of industrial manufacturing occurred in the northern states, while the southern states relied upon their labor-intensive large-scale farming. The south's use of slaves was one of the key focal points for northern politics; tensions rose and eventually with the inauguration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War began. The Civil War, or War between the States, was fought from 1861 to 1865, It was the catalyst for the end of slavery and the spread of democracy. The Civil War fought between the Confederacy, consisting of eleven states and the Union. This paper will focus on the Confederate railroad network as it pertains to, …show more content…
This problem occurred because they utilized or miss managed their railroad subject matter experts as cooks, scouts, infantrymen on the front lines during the war, instead of using them for their initial purpose of operating and maintain the railroads. In the last year of the war thousands of soldiers were starving sitting in army camps these same soldiers were the railroad workers absence directly impeded the performance of the …show more content…
With the Northeast producing the majority of Steel for the nation including the South. When the Southern states succeeded from the US, they consequentially cut off their primary steel suppliers. As more and more rails wore out, they needed to be replaced. The question for the South was how do we continue to maintain our railroad system with a steel shortage? Their solution was to cannibalize the short rails that were less traveled, replacing the worn-out track on the more utilized rail lines. As the South proceeded to cannibalize their rail system they inadvertently started cutting off their supply lines. Towns and cities that generally relied on the rail system to receive goods like linen, cloth, and food were now being starved out. Eventually, the South would counter this problem by setting up steel manufacturing capabilities in Birmingham, Alabama. This action was not swift enough to positively impact the Confederate Railroad system during the Civil War. However post-civil war the South would benefit significantly from these
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