Stamps of the American Civil War1861-1865

Antebellum America

The US Civil War began in 1860 with the secession of eleven southern states: first South Carolina, then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. But the two halves of America had been growing apart for over half a century.

In 1861, the population of the US was 31.5m people, of whom nearly 4m were slaves.

The Northern States were modernising, diversifying and investing heavily in transport infrastructure. Agriculture was still the main economic sector but it was highly mechanised, while the banking and insurance industries, newspaper and magazine publishing and telegraph communications continued to expand.

In contrast, the economy of the Southern States depended on large farms – plantations – growing mainly cotton but also sugar and tobacco. They invested heavily in slaves rather than roads, railways or factories. And as the price of cotton rose, that investment paid off. By 1860, 60% of the wealthiest men in America were Southerners. The Southern states were keen to see an extension of slavery into new territories acquired by America, while a growing