Slavery held the region's wealth. In contrast, western Virginia, with its smaller farms and more diversified economy, typically saw a different set of interests prevailing. This section saw debates on controversies, such as permitting the spread of slavery westward, where the Eastern political elite and the Western farmers regularly clashed. The political elite dominated the state of politics in the South, a group that included influential figures such as Thomas Jefferson and John C. Calhoun, who represented the interests of the South in the Senate and House of Representatives. Economically, prosperity stemmed from the agrarian framework, which influenced the plantation of cash crops, including tobacco, serving as a diversity holder but also as a contributor. The fluctuating landscape of Virginia's Tidewater and Piedmont areas was to tobacco what the atmosphere was to human life. Being the growing grounds of that plant, which became the root crop of these areas, tobacco gradually became their main agricultural …show more content…
Nevertheless, amid the destruction, Virginia started the reconstruction by trying to restore its economy and the spirit of being an American. The legacy of the economic contribution of Virginia to the Confederate cause, though sung by the defeat and destruction, endures as a memorial to the people of this state's spirit and the lasting consequences of the Civil War on national life. When the history of Virginia fills the gaps of the turbulent years that the state went through before the Civil War, one can understand that this story is a microcosm of the struggles that gripped the nation. Virginia encompassed the deep contradictions that eventually tore the country apart in many ways. The majestic Palaces of Monticello, discussions on Liberty and Democracy took place, and the struggling huts where the tired slaves were living in hopelessness are two vivid examples of the wide range of problems. When Virginia became a battlefield between forces of North and South, symbolism represented the profound ideological and economic fractures that caused the