Why the Louisiana Never Recoverd From The Civil War - Term Paper Example

Louisiana and the Civil War 21-04-12 Louisiana and the Civil War Introduction: The aftermath of the Civil War was disastrous and eleven states out of the union were waiting to be readmissioned. The War had smashed the economy of the South and had drained the sources required for repairing the inflicted damage. The land was dotted with white refuges wandering in search of food and bare necessities of life. On the other hand, countless Blacks who were at last free were either running with their masters or running away from their masters towards the lines of the Union. The rest of the four million individuals were busy testing their newly acquired freedom. 1 The aftershocks of United States civil war during the early 1960s were felt long after the incidence. It reshaped the very core of the social structure on which the society existed. The events and chaos of the civil war can be argued as major influences on the later outcomes that transformed this nation into what it reflects today. Although, the war struck all the states of the region, Louisiana being an important state in the southern region was affected severely in the hands of this massive turn of events. Its importance was due to its strategic location with a trade port. Orleans, a city of Louisiana was biggest in the southern region and provided with lots of manpower to the federal army to fight in the war.2 An important factor that can be associated to this devastation was the fact that Louisiana was one of the leading slave states. Most of the unrest induced by the civil war was by the change in the tradition of slavery. Most of the slaves sensed their chances to rebel against their masters and got the opportunity to migrate to the areas where slavery was not the norm of the society. The movement triggered a chain reaction of events that amalgamated to form a chaotic state. This shifted the whole equilibrium in the south. Most of these slaved served as the powerhouse to run the industrial wheel in the region but this dissociation put a halt to the economic and industrial advancements. Moreover, the change in the social structure had a great psychological effect on the minds of the white people residing in the southern region especially in Louisiana.3 Even before the Civil War broke out, the white southerners knew that the slaves would rise up against their masters and will ultimately over throw them. The white southerners expected the same revolt that had overthrown the institution of slavery in Haiti earlier. However, it was in the year 1865 that the Southerners felt sure that nothing could hold back the impending dome. The rumor that the freedman would inevitably strike back in vengeance spread like wild fire throughout the south. Ironically, some whites were even sure that the uprising would surface on New Year’s Day 1866. 4 North’s Occupation of the South: After the war, the south needed more capital and labor in order to stabilize the conditions. The south had previously been depended on slaves as a source of labor but the war had drastically changed the scenario for New Orleans. The south was scarce in farm machinery because they had always utilized slaves for labor. 5The war had made it clear that the South had not been investing handsomely in industrial operations which proved to be one of the major reasons why Louisiana never recovered from the Civil War. Another reason why the South never stabilized from the effects of the war was the success of the North. The North attracted what little labor and capital the south had because unlike the South there was more action and more production in the North. The confederates were heavily defeated in the North in exactly the same brutal way with which they had been defeated in the battlefields. After the war, the utmost desire of the ex confederates was to reestablish and rehabilitate their old agricultural system. The ex confederates wanted to establish a system based on industrialization in order to boost their economy. At last, the southerners had realized the importance of vigorous, versatile economic order. The Southerners were devastated by the ramifications of the war while, on the other hand, the North had gained fruitful outcomes. The agricultural production had increased several folds during the course of the war in the North and the industrial order had completely revolutionized in an effort to meet the demands of the war. The industrial production in the north had been tremendously stepped up due to the introduction of labor saving devices such as the mechanical reaper and sewing machine. The labor saving devices reduced the cost production therefore, the efficiency of the industrial sector accelerated by several folds. Furthermore, the bright future of the North was evident from the fact that they had started manufacturing and utilizing steel and petroleum. As the North accelerated to the heights of economic development the south accelerated towards economic depression. 6 Incompetent Statesmen: At the time of its secession, New Orleans was the apex of the south and was an economic hub. It was the financial capital of South and was the economic locus of the entire nation. The strategic location of New Orleans on the Mississippi River and its 170,000 residents were not the only assets it had. In terms of area, New Orleans was four to five times greater than Charleston and due to the westward expansion coupled with the advent of steam powered transportation, New Orleans had soon transformed into an unrivaled economic capitol of the antebellum South. It was inevitable that New Orleans would crumble when Louisiana would throw its support behind the confederate cause. The proponents of Civil War had assumed incorrectly that the separation from the Union would not only prove economically beneficial for Louisiana but will help its transformation into a state as that owned by the New York City. After the secession, the burden on the shoulders of flawed statesmen was so severe that they were rendered incapable of handling the vulnerable post war situation. One of the major reasons why Louisiana never recovered from the war was the incompetency of the overburdened flawed statesmen. 7 Crumbling Sugar Plantation: The laboring force of sugar plantations in Louisiana were the Negro slaves. The Civil War abolished the institution of slavery and propelled the sugar plantation economy into depression. The sugar plantation suffered a major blow after the war because large amounts of capital required to keep the sugar plantations in operation were not available. The large number of equipment and skilled labor to operate them is a major requirment of the sugar plantation. After the war, the south was practically devoid of skilled workers which accelerated the downfall of the economy. A large amount of silled labor force is required to handle the implements of a sugar plantation such as cuting the cane, handling the vaults to guide the cane, boiling kettles containing sugar cane juice, and drafting animals to bring cane from the fields. The lack of labor threw the sugar plantation in depression because of the fact that the plantation was never industrialized and depended mainly on slave labor.8 Another obstacle that further intensified problems for sugar planters were the falling prices of sugaron the American Market. The sugar prices fell drastically and a hogshead of sugar worth $200 at the end of the war, was sold for $100 in 1876 and was worth only $60 by 1878. The radical changes in the production system enforced by the low prices of sugar discouraged many farmers and planters. 9 Wrecked Cattle Industry: The cattle industry in Louisiana was brutally crushed by the war along with the rest of the south. The cattle were either stolen by the Jayhawkers or were freed and allowed to run in the wild. It had took more than a hundred years for the Black slaves to built the economy of Louisiana but it took only a while for the Jayhawkers to destroy it. However, the major damage was not inflicted by the outlaws but the lack of labor was what delivered the final blow to Louisiana’s economy. The once well tendered cattle farms transformed into barren areas due to the lack of labor because most of the slaves were freed. A large number of able bodied men were lost to the war and south was practically deprived of men to work in farms. By the time, the civil war came to an end the south had entered the beginning of an eighty year economic depression, which did not loosen its clutches till the World War II. Apart from the lack of labor and capital, another reason that accelerated the onset of economic destruction was the bad weather which arrived soon after the war and lasted for almost four years. The bad weather coupled with scarce labor resulted in massive crop failures. The grass prairies of southwest Louisiana had transformed into barren land bare of vegetation. The once thriving cattle industry of New Orleans was plunged into darkness and remained static for a few years after the war. The downfall of the cattle industry in Louisiana is considered one of the major reasons which accelerated the post war economic depression. 10 Cotton Plantation Economy in Crisis: After the civil war, the plantation economy was plunged into a floundering sea of deep depression and transformation. The war had crippled the farmers and planters brutally because they were no longer able to afford the expenses of growing cotton or other crops. Moreover, they could no longer afford to buy their supplies of meat and corn and things that were needed for farming. The farmers were affected in more than one way: the economic depression of mid 1870s crippled them, the series of massive crop failures induced by bad weather further weakened their grip and the final blow was delivered the floods of 1874. Furthermore, the loss of capital and weather induced seed rot further intensified the economic depression. On the other hand, the freezing and high credit charges also posed additional problems for the already demoralized farmers and planters. 11 Post War Robbers: Soon after the war, a large number of Black and White refugees occupied the villages of sourthern Louisiana. The villages were pratically swarming with beggers and tramps who became theives and robbers in order to survive. Keeping in view the numbers of tramps and beggers it was inevitable that barely a night would pass without a daring escapade of theives. The countryside were swarmed with theives who would rode the streets and terrorize people at night. 12The swarming theives were another reason which crippled Louisiana and blurred its propects to enjoying a bright future. Conclusion: From the above walk through of historical events several things can be concluded. The state of Louisiana was important from the strategic and military point of view therefore it was one of the major targets during the civil wars. Slavery being the driving force of the industrial and economic engine was absorbed by the north in the aftermath of civil war that paralyzed the southern region especially the state of Louisiana that depended heavily on the black slaves. The downfall in the economic sector and loss of labor power proved to be the fatal blows that mainly contributed in halting the recovery of Louisiana from the effects of the civil war. The whole shifting of economical equilibrium towards the north also had psychological effects on the white population of the south. They were mentally paralyzed by the transformed society and feared that they will be the victims of vengeance in the hands of those who they ruled just a while ago. The fact that those slaves can sit with them equally was a psychological barrier proved difficult to cross over. The lack in labor severely affected sugar plantation, cotton plantation and cattle industries. All these economic and psychological factors contributed to such severe paralysis from which Louisiana State could not recover even long after the civil war. References: Franklin, John Hope. 1961. Reconstruction: after the Civil War. [Chicago]: University of Chicago Press. Nystrom, Justin A. 2010. New Orleans after the Civil War: race, politics, and a new birth of freedom. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. Hogue, James Keith. 2006. Uncivil war: five New Orleans street battles and the rise and fall of radical Reconstruction. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Mark, Rebecca, and Robert C. Vaughan. 2004. The South. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Jones, Bill. 2007. Louisiana cowboys. Gretna, La: Pelican Pub. Co. Vandal, Gilles. 2000. Rethinking Southern violence: homicides in post-Civil War Louisiana, 1866-1884. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. Hewitt, Lawrence L., and Arthur W. Bergeron. 2002. Louisianians in the Civil War. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=113912. Read More