Civil War: Advantages Of The Union And The Confederate States

Caitlyn Epperson Dennison History 1301 1 May 2015 Union Vs. Confederate The Killer Angels a book written by Michael Shaara, published in the 1970’s. The book gives readers a surprising view of the Civil War. After visiting Gettysburg, the author knew that he wanted to write about America’s past.

During the Civil War there were many differences besides slavery. This war had the most American deaths than all of the wars the U.S. has been in combined! The south seceded from the north for slavery and other less important reasons. The North had more of nearly everything like navy, soldiers,horses, and food, while the south had slaves, cotton, and donkeys/mules. Throughout the war many great leaders rose and fell, battles fought, and great and terrible outcomes.

The union had more railroads, horses, food, and supplies to fight with in this war. With the lack of railroads that the south had, they weren’t able to transport their supplies to the soldiers during the war. Since the north had many railroads, they were able to transport

The Civil War, lasting from 1861 to 1865, was fought by both the Union and the Confederacy with fervor and zeal. Though both the Union and Confederacy had advantages, the Union had the upper hand due to several benefits which resulted in their stable economy. These benefits include their extensive army, industrial strength, and economic self-sufficiency. The Confederate states, on the other hand, had skilled fighters and were on known terrain, but they were dependent on a variety of factors for their production, making their economy inadequate.

One, in particular, would be the North’s abundance of soldiers. Edwin C. Bearss claims, “The South lost the Civil War because of a number of factors. It was inherently weaker in the various essentials to win a military victory in the North. The north had a population of more than twenty-two million people to the South’s nine and a half million of whom four and a half million were slaves”. With the North having more people to go to war with, it was clear their army would be able to defeat the South.

Although the Civil War was expected to be a quick victory due to Northern superiority in supplies and number of men, the continuation of the war for months and then years told a different story. Though subtle, the South did have advantages, such as more competent generals, greater will power, and better strategy. These less obvious advantages allowed the South to prolong the Civil War beyond what anyone could have imagined. Long term causes such as he South’s superior generals, and the North’s abundance of supplies, paved the way for medium term causes such as greater Southern morale, and Northern delay in attacking the South. The short-term causes are the ones that are more obvious catalysts for lengthening the war, such as the Southern victory at the Battle of Bull Run.

Not only did the Union have advantage over advanced weapons, but also railroads. Because they own the majority of the railroad tracks, they were standardized which meant that it was able to switch train cars efficiently. It was an efficient and safe system in moving troops and supplies. On the other hand, the Confederates' tracks were not standardized. Therefore they had the disadvantage for transporting people and goods.

The advantage that allowed the Confederacy to enjoy military success in the early years of the Civil War were that most of the battles were fought on their terrain. This gave them the upper hand in knowing the battlefield and knowing the best strategies to fight the Union. The Confederacy also had an upper hand in military leadership as an example Robert Lee. They had many veterans of the Mexican-American War, which had experience in war. The Confederacy had this feeling that they were fighting a war for independence that carried with it a sense of destiny that would sustain them through the difficult times ahead.

After four long years, the Unions won the war which saw to it that both parties ended up as a united nation once again. The North overpowered and defeated the South due to a number of reasons as illustrate below. To begin with, the fact that the South majored in agriculture made them to be left behind in terms of industrialization, an important factor during the civil war since fabricated merchandise was highly regarded than agricultural products. The North was therefore privileged to be in a better position in production of armory since it was able to host firms that manufactured ammunitions and war locomotives. The South was poorer, since cotton was no longer making ready income and they only had a few manufacturing origins.

During this time period there was many writers writing both for and against the South. A major person in history, Thomas Jefferson, would write against the North and for the South. That is only one of many example from back then, but at this time some of the greatest critics of the South were from the South. Some people believe the South has such a long memory on the civil war because they lost, and even though some people in the current South want many of their peers to just forget about that time in history, many will not give it up.

“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” (Winston Churchill) Since the beginning, the United States have encountered many wars. During these wars, they have also gained great victories. Many of these wars were due to differences, whether economically or religiously. One war, in particular, changed the United States forever.

The Union had more railroad lines and they had the telegraph system. The telegraph system was a huge advantage for the Union because they could now send messages thousands of miles away in less than a minute. President Abraham Lincoln could now command the Union’s generals in the safety of his own office. The railroad lines gave the Union a big advantage because they could transport resources faster than the Confederate

The North had many advantages over the South the helped them win the civil war. These reasons included a central leadership, more resources, and recruiting black men for their armies. These reasons helped the North win the civil war and play a big part in how successful they would be. With having advantages, better tactics when fighting, and also a higher population, the North would use strategic planning to fight the South and ultimately win the civil war.

The North had many advantages. They beat the South in population they could draw soldiers from. The North had 22 million citizens where the South only had 5.5 million citizens. The North could transport supplies and people faster because of their roads, canals, and railroads. However the South disconnected from itself with barely any railroads and hard to move soldiers and goods from place to place.

The Southern and Northern states differentiate on many issues, which ultimately led them towards a Civil War. There stood deep social, economic, and political disparities between the North and the South. These modifications stemmed from the understanding of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, most of these disputes about the rights of states directed to the Civil War. There existed reasons other than slavery on behalf of the South 's breakaway.