The Bermudian government had two concerns: Firstly, it feared being saddled with the total cost of maintaining the entire garrison (since allowing its Militia, once the only military force protecting the Colony, to lapse after the American War of 1812, the Bermuda Government had contributed nothing, materially or financially, to the defences. Other than during a brief period of profiting from the American Civil War, Bermuda's economy had been ailing since its shipbuilding and maritime trade had begun to recede under the assault of steam and steel. Defence infrastructure had, in fact, been the primary crutch upon which Bermuda had limped through the middle of the Century); Secondly, the social discontent that would be stoked by raising either racially integrated or segregated units.