Essay

Primary Sources

Farms Census Data (1860)

List of Urban Areas (1860)

Manufacturing Census Data (1860)

Cotton and Slaves Data (1860)

Editorials (1860-1861)

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources
Secondary Sources

About the Author

Bruce Chadwick, a former journalist, is a historian, lecturer, and author of 28 books on various topics including the Civil War.

Causing the Civil War

Farms Census Data (1860)

Annotation

This map, based on data from the federal census of 1860, shows the number of farms in the U.S. just prior to the Civil War. The top map plots the total number of farms per state, showing that agriculture was still widespread in northern states. In fact, there were more farms in many northern states than in southern states. The bottom map shows that the South had a higher concentration of large farms (more than 1,000) acres.