My reference is Bruce Catton's "Army of the Potomac-Glory Road". He made a point on the economic growth of the North and ONE of several reasons was the weather in Britain and Western Europe in 1861-62. My question is what other domestic reasons are there for the economic growth of the North that began in early 1863? How did the majority of common northern civilians make all this money?

One other point is that common Southerners did not rely on money to survive. They had based their lives on self sufficency and dependence on no one. My great grandfather had everything he needed on his farm to live a good life. He had his own blacksmith tools and shop, smokehouse, tannery, food garden, meat critters, cooper tools, wheelwright tools, etc. My great grandmother spun her own cloth and thread, canned food, etc. What changed for them was the first electric powerlines to their house. Once they put in their first light bulb they needed to make money, and the rest his history.

____________________
David Upton