Why did the North, with its vast wealth, need any Federal subsidies for its infastructure at all? Why was the South paying its share for the New England fishing fleet, railroads, steamship lines, ect. I believe it is false to believe the South didn't want the same luxeries as the North in its communities. Who wouldn't want better transportation? Railroads had nothing to do with interfering with agrarian culture in the South. Better harbors would only benefit the cotton trade. These arguments were the primary concern of many Southern political conventions prior to the war. The South was only given enough federal funds to either start a small project or to watch larger ones fail and be forgotten.

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David Upton