Why were there more railroads in the North than the South?

Few of the 100 railroads that existed in the South prior to 1861 were more than 100 miles in length. The South had always been less enthusiastic about the railroad industry than the North; its citizens preferred an agrarian living and left the mechanical jobs to men from the Northern states.



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Northern foundries began to experiment with stronger and more durable iron products such as steel. But the southern foundries had difficulty purchasing the necessary supplies for diligent upkeep of their rail lines, and as a result, the infrastructure of southern rail lines gradually crumbled.

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The industrialized Union possessed an enormous advantage over the Confederacy — they had 20,000 miles of railroad track, more than double the Confederacy's 9,000 miles.

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The North, however, consisted mostly of large urban cities and did not have a great need for slave labor. They also wanted their tax dollars spent on things like new roads, canals and railroads. However, the South was more rural, so they did not have the need for such infrastructure.

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The South had always been less enthusiastic about the railroad industry than the North; its citizens preferred an agrarian living and left the mechanical jobs to men from the Northern states. The railroads existed, they believed, solely to get cotton to the ports.

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Southern railroads west of the Mississippi were isolated, disconnected, and differed widely in gauge. Several of the Northern railroads, in contrast, were complex networks in themselves, and many cities were served by more than one. The fact that most used the same gauge made transfer even easier.

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Most of the railroad lines in the country were located in the North and the Middle West. This made it possible for the North to move more men and supplies around almost at will, and to transport food from he mid-western farm lands to workers in the eastern cities and the armed forces in the field.

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In short, railroads were machines that revolutionized the timber industry. Just as railroads mechanized and accelerated production throughout the economy of the Pacific Northwest, the steam donkey further mechanized and accelerated production in the timber industry.

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Known as the First Railroad War, the Civil War left the South's railroads and economy devastated. Most of the railroads, however, were repaired, reorganized and operated again.

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Railroads were visible symbols of industry and modernity during the Civil War. They were agents of progress, promoters of civilization, and enhancers of democracy which could bind the North and the South together as one nation. They were also the lifeline of the army.

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Throughout colonial and antebellum history, U.S. slaves lived primarily in the South. Slaves comprised less than a tenth of the total Southern population in 1680 but grew to a third by 1790. At that date, 293,000 slaves lived in Virginia alone, making up 42 percent of all slaves in the U.S. at the time.

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