Civil War Economic Advantage

1860

1. Based on the data from the chart above, what portion of all Americans lived in the Union in 1860?

2. Based on the data from the chart above, in how many different types of resources did the Union have an advantage over the Confederacy?

3. Which of the types of resources listed in the chart above do you think was the most important or valuable commodity.

4. Based only on the data from the chart above, if I asked you to bet on the Union or the Confederacy to win a conflict, how many times out of 100 do you think the Union would win a conflict?

5. What is the big picture the visual above tells?

6. Explain why the resource differential between the Union and Confederacy was so great.

7. List one major consequence of the resource differential between the Union and Confederacy was so great.

8. Be creative: based on the data from the visual above, describe a sporting event or a battle of celebrities that would be as lopsided in terms of relative power as that between the Union and the Confederacy.