Summary Of Why The South Lost The Civil War

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Echoing the arguments made in the book, Why the South Lost the Civil War, the same historians in the book, The Elements of Confederate Defeat: Nationalism, War Aims, and Religion, aim to fully explore the reason why the Conference eventually lost the greatest and most vicious conflict on United States soil. Exploring three key themes of nationalism, the war aims of the south, and the religion of the southern states, the authors in the book ultimately claim as their thesis that the Confederacy lost the Civil War for the sole reason that the southern states lacked the morale and the will to successfully win the war. Furthermore, the nationalism of the Confederacy was underscored by the religious consequences and guilt felt by southerners over …show more content…

Addressing books like the How the North Won the Civil War as well as Why the South Lost the Civil War, this book highlights and stresses how the subject has been constantly and continually written about by prominent historians. “Most historians,” the historians posit, “still largely ascribe Confederate defeat to… military strategy, military superiority, leadership, political factors, diplomacy, and the tension between localism and centralism.” The author combat this by addressing new interpretations over the same question, theorizing that some reasons, such as “issues of the blockade, states’ rights, battlefield success, economic development, resources, and the like,” do not adequately explain the reasons for Confederate loss. Moreover, much of the methodology and sourcing utilized in the book rely on both primary and secondary resources. Relying on statistics and other accounts from voices present during the time for primary sourcing, a prime realization over how well researched the book is comes from the biographical essays toward the back of the book, which spans almost twenty pages; a testament to how many secondary sources were