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Strengths And Weaknesses During The American Civil War

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The American Civil War was a battle fought between the industrial North (Union) and the plantation South (Confederacy) over the secession of slave states from the Union that ultimately cost the lives of over half a million. Initially both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had hoped to avoid the conflict but could not come to an agreement due to vastly different political and economic beliefs. The North had a large industrial population with an established government and transportation system, but the South occupied a much larger territory that included highly trained military generals. At the onset of the war, both sides pursued various strategies given their strengths and weaknesses, but over time the North’s power and stamina were …show more content…

This included General Meade with the Union making use of the hilly terrain below Gettysburg (p. 594), which was a very good defensive position while General Grant used siege strategy (p. 592) and established new supply lines for transporting goods and troops (p. 596). Also with the Union, General Sherman focused on cutting the South’s supply lines and destroying their morale. Interestingly the South used a slightly similar tactic of wearing down the North as much as possible, but different generals had different strategies. As opposed to simply defending southern territory, Robert E. Lee took to the offensive by “taking the war to the enemy” (p. 593) and attacking Union General McClellan’s right flank during the Seven Days battles which was unsuccessful (p. 589). In a more successful strategy, Confederate General Bragg lay siege to the city of Chickamauga Tennessee, which left Union General Rosencrans’s army cut off and starving (p. 595). However, Union General Sherman’s strategy to demoralize the South by burning down cities, plantations, and farms on his March to Sea began to unravel the Confederacy (p. 598) and once President Lincoln announced the emancipation proclamation slaves working on plantations would join passing Union armies over the final two years of the Civil War reinforcing the north with over 200,000 black soldiers (p. 620). Overall, the North found themselves with a stronger show of force and access to more resources which gave them the upper

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