The economy of the United States has not seen massive fluctuation over time. Since the arrival of the first settlers the American economy has prospered on its imports, exports, farming, fishing, and manufacturing. These were just a few of the economic staple of that time but up until the Civil War not much had really changed in terms of these economic staples.
The economy of the colonies was primarily rooted in one major economic staple, farming. 90% of the colonial economy centered around an agricultural lifestyle. The new land and fertile soil that the colonists had in the mid 1700's was crucial in providing them with food as well as their major cash crop, tobacco. In the southern colonies, especially Virginia and Maryland, tobacco plantations flourished while even further south in the Carolinas rice fields and tobacco fields dominated the landscape. These colonies became extremely wealthy and were also supplemented with slave trade in the south for their plantations.The northern colonies, which included New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Maine, had their hands in various professions including fishing, fur trading, iron works, wheat farming, cattle raising, and timber harvesting. With the harvesting of the natural resources like timber another profession arose, shipbuilding. These ships led to trading professions that caused many seamen to become very wealthy by taking advantage of the “triangular trade” between New England, Africa, and the West Indies. The colonists could barter goods on the coast of Africa in turn for slaves, which they then sold in the West Indies or bartered for molasses that was then used in New England as food or to create alcohol. The economy of colonial America relied heavily on this trade to be able to get the goods from America out to the world and trade for the items that they couldn't produce and desperately needed. Considering that almost everything in the colonies, especially tobacco, food, and timber were exported to the West Indies, and sugar and molasses were imported, keeping these trade routes open were necessary to the economic success of the colonies. When Parliament passed the Molasses Act in 1773 American trade with the West Indies was halted temporarily as traders found ways around the Act. This Act along with others that tried to limit and control the colonies and their economies would lead to the start of the Revolution in 1776. The complex economy of 1770's colonial america relied heavily on farming and trading for its success but over the next century not much would change in terms of the economic structure.
The economy of the colonies was primarily rooted in one major economic staple, farming. 90% of the colonial economy centered around an agricultural lifestyle. The new land and fertile soil that the colonists had in the mid 1700's was crucial in providing them with food as well as their major cash crop, tobacco. In the southern colonies, especially Virginia and Maryland, tobacco plantations flourished while even further south in the Carolinas rice fields and tobacco fields dominated the landscape. These colonies became extremely wealthy and were also supplemented with slave trade in the south for their plantations.The northern colonies, which included New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Maine, had their hands in various professions including fishing, fur trading, iron works, wheat farming, cattle raising, and timber harvesting. With the harvesting of the natural resources like timber another profession arose, shipbuilding. These ships led to trading professions that caused many seamen to become very wealthy by taking advantage of the “triangular trade” between New England, Africa, and the West Indies. The colonists could barter goods on the coast of Africa in turn for slaves, which they then sold in the West Indies or bartered for molasses that was then used in New England as food or to create alcohol. The economy of colonial America relied heavily on this trade to be able to get the goods from America out to the world and trade for the items that they couldn't produce and desperately needed. Considering that almost everything in the colonies, especially tobacco, food, and timber were exported to the West Indies, and sugar and molasses were imported, keeping these trade routes open were necessary to the economic success of the colonies. When Parliament passed the Molasses Act in 1773 American trade with the West Indies was halted temporarily as traders found ways around the Act. This Act along with others that tried to limit and control the colonies and their economies would lead to the start of the Revolution in 1776. The complex economy of 1770's colonial america relied heavily on farming and trading for its success but over the next century not much would change in terms of the economic structure.
The economy in the Civil War era was not very different from the economic structure seen around the Revolution. The economy, primarily in the south, depended upon the farming of one major cash crop, cotton. Cotton drove the southern economy and the trading of slaves to tend to the cotton fields also thrived in the southern economy. Cotton was traded along with slaves to acquire commodities that the south couldn't produce themselves. Slavery and cotton production were intertwined and together made up the primary economic staple of southern economy. In the northern economy, farming and trade were still prevalent by the rise and success of a new industry, manufacturing, was coming about. Manufacturing and the industrialization of northern cities led to economic growth in the north that was not seen by the backwards institutions of slavery and cotton production in the southern economic structure. The northern economy flourished during the war and after as the manufacturing industry took off. Trade in the north rose along with manufacturing as finished goods were sent out to European markets and with the expansion of railroads across the north cities became hubs for trade and commerce The southern economy was consequently destroyed along with the rest of the South after the war. The slaves and their economic value to plantation owners were no more as they were now free. The economic structure of the north and south varied greatly during this time period and as one grew stronger and flourished in the north another became weak and collapsed in the south.
The economies during these two time periods in American history do not vary in any extreme way. For the southern states the economy was farming but during the 1770's the crop was tobacco while in the 1860's the cash crop was cotton. The south in both of these times relied on farming, trade to get their products out, and slaves as the primary labor force. In the north the fishing, trade, and farming were prevalent during the Revolution and were still all thriving industries around the Civil War but none could compare to the growth of the manufacturing industry. This industry, similar to the technology market of today, would continue to grow and expand as America surpassed British manufacturing output later in the century. Overall the American economy did exactly what it was expected to do during the time between the Revolutionary War and the "second American Revolution" which is grow and develop. The nation's economy grew and expanded but still remained similar as the economic staples and structure in the north and south remained generally unchanged.