The south after the civil war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The south after the civil war - Essay Example Earlier the south enjoyed a competitive advantage over the rest of the country with the help of slave energy and cultivation of huge plots of land. This measure had dual advantage. Firstly, the wage or cost per labor was considerably low and secondly this cost benefit was ploughed back into the agricultural business by buying large plots of land and cultivating huge area at one time. Thus it is obvious that the yield this way used to be generating formidable surplus out of the business. Once the civil war was lost and the advantage of slave energy was diminished the landlords or the region found it difficult to adjust with the changed situation of escalated labor cost and in the process they were forced to employ tenants and divide the land into smaller plots. Both these factors diminished returns and this caused the south to face a low per capita income and in the process became the most backward states of the nation. (Kunreuther, 526-51) However, there are opposing views to this hypothesis. Ransom believed that the main cause of economic degradation was due to the fact there was a substantial amount of racism present in the South even after the Civil War. This racism induced low legal and social support for the African American in the region.