Why Did The North Win The Civil War Research Paper

Why the Union won the Civil War

Numerous historians have voiced their opinions on the outcome of the American Civil War. The Union was successful for a number of reasons. First of all, they had a great number of men compared to the South. The North had approximately twenty-two million people during the war. (Farmer, 2005) The South only had nine million and of those, only about five and a half million were whites. (Farmer, 2005) The North had extreme advantages and could have easily defeated the South, but the South fought valiantly. Even though the South had a small number of men, they had an excellent military campaign. There were several things that the South could have done to change the outcome of the war. The Trent Affair is one example.

Most of the northern states at that time opposed slavery, and most of the southern states supported slavery. This gave them something to fight for, knowing that they were ending human captivity in America. It also gave them more manpower, because there was a steady flow of blacks who escaped and joined the Union. (Farmer, 2005) There are so very many reasons that the Union was successful. One of the reasons is that they were in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. This was a time of exponential growth for the North. There was a huge amount of factories and European immigrants that were rushing the country. This was a big help to the Union. This made it easy to mass produce weapons. In 1860, the North created over ninety percent of the United States’ firearms and pig iron. (Farmer, 2005) With such a massive advantage, the South was almost certain to lose. The North had some newer weaponry too. For Example, the Gatlin gun was able to fire in quick succession. This made it easy to kill enemies very quickly. The North also had a vast navy, compared to the South’s. The North used this a lot to cause the South to retreat. (historyrocket.com, 2012) They would fire naval cannons for days, to hold Confederates at bay. (Farmer, 2005) The South hoped to make up for its industrial lacks by trading with Europe. They were somewhat successful, but the Union was determined to block their trading. (Farmer, 2005) They used a massive blockade to

They were faced with numerous challenges. The South had a very small amount of railroads. This made it extremely difficult to move troops and supplies from place to place. The North traveled with ease. They possessed twice the railroad density per mile. (ushistory.org, 2014) There were very few factories in the South. This made mass-production impossible. Many of the men of the Confederacy had to use their own weapons to fight. Perhaps the best advantage of the Confederacy was the spirit. The Confederate soldiers were extremely determined to win the war. There are multiple accounts that the South was extremely heroic. They would do almost anything to save their way of life. They would even give up their life. There is a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that says, “If a man has not found something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.” The Confederate soldiers had no fear of losing their life. They were doing it for their people and their way of