Migration of Slaves away from the South – Loss of Labor

 
Aside from this, there are also issues related to the mass migration of former slaves and citizens of the South into the North. With the implementation of the emancipation proclamation, this elicited a sudden boom in migration wherein former slaves left their plantations in order to seek out better jobs in the industrialized North. There was also a migration of families from the South to the North due to the apparent economic opportunities that were available there as compared to the lack of opportunities in the South (Miller 112). The end result is that the labor force that the South could have potentially used to get back on its feet in effect left for the North and other territories. This further hampered efforts at economic recovery resulting in a gradual decline in the South’s economy which failed to fully recover when combined with the aftereffects of the Civil War.

End of European Business with the South
From an international perspective, it should be noted that the emancipation proclamation also had the effect of having countries disassociate themselves from trading with the South. The reason behind this is connected to the fact that countries such as England and France at the time had effectively abolished slavery within their own borders yet continued to be trading partners with the South (Taylor 37). Once the emancipation proclamation was put in to effect, the South’s trading partners did not want to be perceived as being “pro-slavery” and, as a result, this caused many of the region’s trading partners to shift their interests towards the northern states.

What must be understood is that one of the primary justifications the South had in continuing the Civil War was connected to the high price of cotton and the value of slaves in the global market at the time (Taylor 37). With their trading partners effectively fleeing, this resulted in the South having no one to sell cotton to which in effect demolished its economy to the point where it was unable to sufficiently recover. What should also be noted is the fact that the lack of other large scale industries within the South aside from agriculture meant that the economy of the region would be unable to recover for quite some time.

It simply did not have the necessary large scale industries that were oriented towards manufacturing processed goods. With slaves effectively being freed from the control of the plantation owners, this created a considerable lack of manpower for the region which prevented its economy recovery from progressing (Taylor 37). Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the fact that during the period of transition for the South, there was still a considerable amount of former slaves within the region.

Attempts at hiring them back were made; however, there was still a considerable lack of customers for the South’s products due to its prevailing association with slavery. The end result was that despite attempts at implementing some form of economic recovery, their simply was not enough in terms of agricultural production capability or customers to actually bring it about. Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the fact that the sheer scale of the Civil War which caused significant damage