Themes in American History

Civil War is a war between northern and southern states to fight for slavery abolishment.  Besides that, the conflict sparked social and economic conflicts were existed among the states long before the war. Both New York City and St. Louis had profound effects from the war.  One of the bloodiest urban riots took place in July 1863, an official estimated of 1,000 deaths from the riot erupted in New York City. There were so many reasons for the riot, such as labor unrest, class and ethnic tensions and growing violence of street gangs. But the major reason was the race riot, which involved attacks on African Americans by wealthy whites. (Chudacoff, pg80, 6^th Ed.) Compare with the social conflict on New York City, the war reshaped the commercial patterns on western cities, such as St. Louis. St. Louis was one of the nation’s fastest growing cities in the 1850s. It is well known for its river transportation around and beyond the upper Mississippi River valley.  When the hostilities broke out, the Union army closed the lower Mississippi River to commercial traffic and imposed strict surveillance over all goods shipped out of St. Louis. The Civil War turned St. Louis’s geographic advantage into a liability. (Chudacoff, pg81, 6^th Ed.)

Tags: civil war, economic, Mississippi River, New York City riot, social, St. Louis

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