Tayler Burrell
History
12 December 2017 Civil War: Union Military Advantages The civil war, fought from 1861-1865, was started after seven southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate states. The Union had many advantages that, ultimately, led them to victory. The had many political, economic, and military benefits that aided them in their victory. The Union was held by a strong central government. A strong central government is defined as a government that’s able to force the states and municipalities to follow the central government's laws. Abe Lincoln did this by not letting the surrounding southern states to secede and simply ignored that they had “succeeded”. When South Carolina “seceded” from
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This illegally increased the size of the army, which was also a power only reserved for the Congress, and authorized illegal voting methods for the Union border states. Congress had generally supported all of these decisions, but Lincoln further justified them by claiming that desperate times called for the measures he took.He also later promised to obey the Constitution once the war was over.
Economically the Union was very strong and greatly outweighed the South. President Lincoln, as the war had begun, quickly declared a blockade, as described earlier, against the main Confederate ports. This was supposed to be under an international treaty, that hadn’t been signed yet, which had created the controversial political issues for Lincoln. Fortunate enough for the Union, when war broke out the United States Navy was small like it’s army, and its ships were scattered around the oceans. Of the American ships that were in surrounding waters, ten were partially destroyed or destroyed to prevent them from going to the Confederates when Virginia seceded. If they did this would have taken the Norfolk naval base with it.
Another Economical advantage the Union had was that Northern Republicans could pass higher tariffs, write a wide variety of needed reform bills, build the national economy, and strengthen the federal government because there were no conservative Southerners. Countless different currencies in
The challenges that the Union and the Confederacy faced during the Civil War were very different. Critical weaknesses that seemed unfit for war, plagued the opposing American forces, and would serve to be a continuous obstacle that would need to be conquered by patriotism of the people, for their opposing views. To allow for both sides to be competitive, the efforts put forth had to mold to the varied needs of the armies by both the civilian population and their militaries. To the people in the south the similarity to the colonists in the Revolutionary War, was assimilated to their separatist cause in the Civil War and would be their drive to compete with the dominating Northern states. This mindset started the Confederacy in the Civil
The transportation of products, supplies, Natural resources, and people in the North and South was a big factor in who won the war. The attached 1861 railroad map by James Lloyd shows how dense the railroads in the North were compared to the South. The North relied more on the railroad to transport their manufactured goods. The railroads also helped the union by sending ammunition and food quickly, but The there was a fear of being sabotaged. In the map, we can also see the South railroads were very scattered. The South didn 't have much of a need to have as many railroads because they were farming communities. The Union also destroyed what little railroads the South had (Boyer 454). The Confederacy then could not transport supplies nor people to other parts of the South (Beringer 310).
A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.
The Civil War came to be because the South seceded and declared war on the North. From the firing at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 to the surrender at Appomattox Court House, The Union (North) waged war against the Confederacy (South). The South seceded because of the balance of power in America. There was more free states, which would mean they would have a bigger voice in the Senate than the fewer slave states. To protect their way of life, they had to go to war. The war before Vicksburg was leaning towards the Confederacy, the Confederacy won battles, such as The 1st Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Shiloh, and Fredericksburg; meanwhile the Union’s only major victory was the capture of New Orleans but the true decider of the War was the Siege of Vicksburg. Vicksburg was the gateway to the Trans-Mississippi region from the eastern region, when it fell, it became the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.
By the time 1860 came by, the North and South had a deep rift between them. With several issues such as slavery, it divided them in two. The South became the confederacy the moment Abraham Lincoln was elected for President of the United States of America. The North became the Union because unlike the South, the North had not seceded from the United States. Abraham Lincoln’s election drew the southerners over the edge, and on top of that the Civil War broke out in April of 1861.
The Civil War, which began in April 1861,was the battle of the Northern and Southern states of America. After Lincoln pledged to get rid of slavery in new territories, Southern states seceded to form the Confederacy to fight against the Union. Both the Union and Confederacy and strengths and weaknesses, however, ultimately the North was victorious and slavery was abolished from the United States. The North had many strengths, including a strong military and a strong economical/political system, which would help them win the war. James McPherson backs this up as he argues that the North had superior numbers which would help them during the war.
Civil War is defined as a war between citizens of the same country. When the two parties are from the same country there are bound to be major advantages and disadvantages to both sides. The South had a very recognizable advantage fighting on the defensive territory and being familiar with the land while the North was essentially coming in blind. While this would have been an advantage for the South, the North had an advantage themselves, they outnumbered the South. With both sides having huge advantages and disadvantages, it makes one think of the ‘what if’s”. Both the good and bad of each side played a crucial role of the outcome. The side that won would have an impact on the entire country.
As a result, the North was seen as the advantage and the South with the disadvantage due to the amount populations and resources. The author George M. Fredrickson explains his reasoning behind why he believes the north had a greater advantage. In the Why the North Won by James McPherson also explains the advantages of the north, he then after states turning points during the war which affected the end result. Both of the secondary sources state economic, population and resources which were all in favor of the Unions
One of the biggest advantages the North had was the railroad system. The North had a lot more railroad on its side, which could move anything from soldiers to supplies to weapons. The South’s economy had gone downhill due to blockades on southern exports. No foreign country would ever have loaned money to the south because nobody had any idea if the south would make it through the war. At the end of the war, the southern economy was completely destroyed after making so many economical mistakes and having so much of their property destroyed.
The Union and Confederate Navies were founded during the Civil War. Each Navy had its advantages and disadvantages. The Union represented the northern states. The Confederacy represented the southern states. The Union had a lot more advantages at the beginning of the conflict. First of all, they had more people, ships, and supplies. They were more organized and had hundreds of ships with many captains to guide them around enemy territories. The main thing that they lacked was cotton trading. This was a disadvantage because cotton was a main export during that time. Other than that, they really had no problem in fighting the Confederates. The Union captains needed training, because they did not have proper navigation skills.
The Secession of the South from the Union When the United States of America expanded westward, they achieved manifest destiny. This above all, raised tensions between the North and the South. Although they were a union, many problems arose, the main issue being slavery. These problems eventually led to the Civil War. The North thrived on factories, while the South thrived on agriculture, causing them to utilize slaves.
During the American Civil War, the Union was successful because of their numerous factories, population, and transportation. The Confederate was unsuccessful because of their economic failures. They started out strong and failed during the war during The Civil War. They could really only make cotton. The Union came up with a plan called the Anaconda Plan to shut down the Confederate economically and it worked. This plan was an idea to make the Confederate crumble economically. They used their navy to surround there harbors and the Mississippi to stop any imports or exports to the Confederate. The Union had more factories than the Confederate allowing them to be able to produce goods way faster. This also allowed them to make guns, clothing, and railroads. The union had more people fighting in the war giving them more troops to fight in battles, and all of the troops had supplies thanks to their numerous factories. The Unionerners had better transportation than the Confederate giving them the ability to travel through the country faster. This also allowed them to transport goods faster. The Union and the Confederate both had their strengths and weaknesses but at the end of the war the Union showed that they were stronger than the Confederate.
Northern advantages involved leadership of Abraham Lincoln, military power, industrial power, and greater population of 22 million people. They also had
According to Greeley’s prayer “Those provisions were designed to fight Slavery with Liberty. They prescribe that men loyal to the Union, and willing to shed their blood in her behalf, shall no longer be held, with the nation's consent, in bondage to persistent, malignant traitors, who for twenty years have been plotting and for sixteen months have been fighting to divide and destroy our country” (Greely 1). This shows that the some states wanted to secede and strongly disliked what the president was doing. It could be difficult to stop a lot of states from seceding but Lincoln was able to do
The Civil War was fought between the union and confederate states over the ongoing issue of slavery. When the war first began in 1861, president Lincoln issued a proclamation for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to help quell the southern insurrection. The war lasted four years and ended when the confederate states and their leader Robert E. Lee surrender to