The Civil war; North vs South Throughout this essay, we'll be taking a look at the Union and the Confederacy. The two economies will be compared and contrasted. Did the South ever really stand a chance? With the Unions numeric advantage paired with coin, weapons, an extensive railroad system and a surplus in other commodities, one could say the South had entered a war it could never win. How do you feel about both sides that fought the war? Slavery obviously, had to be put to a stop. But were southerners strictly wrong? After reading this essay and several personal excerpts from historical figures you should be able to formulate some sort of opinion. Was the Union strictly “right?”, was Confederate leadership flawed, or were they simply overrun? Were Southerners racist bigots afraid of change or were they shaken at the thought of their world being turned upside down? April 12, 1861. Confederate forces fire upon, and capture fort Sumter. Hamilton once said the civil war was the soldier's war. "When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation." The Civil war ultimately arose because of these "passions of men", and unfortunately, the everyday American, who rushed into the war with such zeal, was eventually …show more content…
The South only had 9,000 miles compared to the 20,000 miles of the North. Historically, the railroads' importance is monumental. Having emerged along industrialization the railroad allowed not only economic growth by empowering the trading of goods at high speed across the land but also the mobilization of armies, meaning they were also advantageous during times of war. It's worth mentioning the Union also had five times the factories that the Confederacy had. This numeric advantage helped facilitate the production of the needed good and ultimately factored into the defeat of a Confederacy that just couldn't keep up with their opponents means of