Civil War New Orleans: Prelude to Conflict A comparative look at the economic differences between the Confederate states and those of the Union shows a staggering disparity. SEE COMPARATIVE CHART The Southern states had few advantages, except in certain agricultural areas and any semblance of parity here, arose from the Border States, primarily Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri. These three states were divided between Union and Confederacy in sympathies, and more concretely in supplying officers and men under arms.  Nevertheless, they remained in the Union and are represented accordingly in terms of these resource statistics. Wars are costly—certainly in terms of life and devastation of property—and since they are, those who wage them need money and goods to collect and trade. The chief cash crop for the South was cotton, to a lesser extent tobacco was significant but cotton was king.  King Cotton was one of the Confederacy’s mainstays and sources of income.  However, to collect payment for this white gold, the seller must be able to get it to market.  The textile mills of New England and for that matter, Old England, became starved for raw cotton.  And, because in 1860, the southern United States produced 90% of the world’s cotton,…

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