...The American Civil War is said to be “the last ancient war and the first modern war.” One of the last wars with mass cavalry units and the first war which railroads placed a major part. This was a difficult time for the North and South, not only were they fighting a Civil War, they were adjusting to new inventions. They have gone from horse-drawn carriages to railroads, medical practices that had barely changed in a hundred years; were now treating wounds caused by new inventions. This would be a new kind of war for both the North and South. Prior to the Civil War each side had its advantages and disadvantages. If you were to compare them you would find differences in economic, social to cultural even transportation then any similarities. With so many difference and beliefs it’s no wonder they tore the nation apart, fought against family members and destroyed property. The South was in all aspects following behind the North and did not except or want changes imposed by the North. Regardless of the differences perhaps at the beginning of the war the South was ready to defend its way of life. Their over all differences lead to the Civil War and it was not solely because of slavery, but the right to live as they had for years. Before the war you had the upper and lower South who did not agree to secession at the same time. This caused a dividing line not only was the North and South divided the South was divided between its self. These eight states, Kentucky, Tennessee...
Words: 3685 - Pages: 15
...Advantages that the North had over the South Leading to the Civil War Before the American Civil War had started the North had many advantages over the South that would help lead the North to victory. These resources gave northern soldiers the upper hand against the southern soldiers during many of the battles. Without the advantages the North had over the South, the Civil War could have had a different ending for the United States. The Union was better equipped for the Civil War because of a range of advantages over the Confederate Army that included advanced industrialization and economics, a larger population, a superior Navy, and an advanced transportation network. One of the major advantages that the North had over the South was their advanced...
Words: 1441 - Pages: 6
...The American Civil War, which lasted from April of 1861 to May of 1865, is among the bloodiest (and most decisive) wars in American history. Proposed by Stephen A. Douglass, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was introduced to not only pave way for a northern transcontinental railroad and bring Nebraska into the Union, but also to solve the problem of slavery in new territories and, ultimately, reduce sectional conflicts. However, the Act failed; Northerners became angry at the contradiction of the Missouri Compromise, and sectional conflicts between the North and the South heightened to extremes. The relations between the North and the South worsened over time. At one point, there came a period of violence and bloodshed known as “Bleeding Kansas”...
Words: 1265 - Pages: 6
...Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars in the American history that sacrificed tremendous amount of people from 1861 to 1865. It was also known as the War Between the States due to the war was based on the conflicts between the Confederacy and the Union. Both of the Confederacy and the Union enjoyed advantages from themselves and encountered obstacles in the major events during the war. Before the war, one of the biggest advantages of the Union was that they had a much larger population than the South, which is about 22 million, and 3.5 million of them were slaves. In this case, the larger population means the larger possibility to win the war. For the industry, the North also had more factories production than South, which the North had 92.6% and the South had only 7.4%. The reason lied on nature sources in their lands. The resources in the North were mostly iron and coal. However, for the South, they had many sources of gold and silver, which cannot produce equipments for a war. This led to the production of the equipments that were required to use during the war decreased. The amount of factories in the North produced much more than South; 98% of the United States firearms and 96% of the United States rail equipment were produced by the North. Thus, in this case, the Union had more advantages than Confederacy. For the North, they had almost as much as twice of the mileage compared to the South. Additionally, the Northern rails were integrated and very efficient. The...
Words: 1011 - Pages: 5
...In 1861 the deadliest and bloodiest war of all time began. The war was a battle between the North (union soldiers) and the South (confederate soldiers). Many people thought this war would be a short war, but it lasted 4 years. This war was the Civil War and it is an important event in history. Many people say the civil war was over states rights, but a majority of people say it was over slavery. Slavery was said to be the #1 conflict between the North and the South in the 1860’s (Guelzo 1). People from the North were being used as slaves in the south. The south liked/ wanted slaves, but the North did not agree, which is why the country was divided (Luce 1). Fifteen out of 34 of the states were slave states...
Words: 1142 - Pages: 5
...American Civil War The American Civil War is a very misunderstood war. It is known for the war that ended slavery. What most people don’t know is the war was not originally fought for the abolition of slavery. The South, or the Confederate, wanted to exercise their rights as states and split from the north. Well Abraham Lincoln thought that would be the downfall of the United States. The Civil War was fought to between the Union and the Confederacy on the issue of splitting up the United States. The country was divided between two philosophies, either they thought the country could only survive and prosper as a whole, or they believed the south had the right to split from the union. The country was divided between two different philosophies. The North believed if the South seceded from the North the country would crumble. While the South believed they had the right as states to separate themselves from the Union. (Malvasi) Abraham Lincoln was the head of the Unions thinking. He had a great sense of political knowledge. He realized if the south did secede the Union wouldn’t stand a chance against attack because half of the country essentially would have been gone. Lincoln originally had no plans of abolishing slavery all his focus was on keeping the country together in one strong unit. (Malvasi) The South on the other hand felt they had been mistreated by the Union and were being taken advantage of. Soon the idea of secession came around ...
Words: 4176 - Pages: 17
...realized it would reopen the question of slavery in new territories. Since the North and the South could not comprise on slav-ery for all territories it lead to the Civil War. When it come to territories that were not yet considered the states the federal government was responsible for the decision if slaves were allowed, once a state it would be the state gov-ernment (Brinkley, 2012). As the issue of slavery in new territories came it is caused a lot of ten-sion throughout sections in the United...
Words: 473 - Pages: 2
...The American Civil War Jill Ayala HIS/115 February 19, 2012 Jody Ault The American Civil War “In the course of four years, more than 2% of the population of the United State lost their lives in the American Civil War, between 618,000 and 700,000 people” (American Civil War, 2012). Never before or since has there been such a tragic event occur. There are many different opinions regarding the American Civil, why it occurred, and what the actual reasons for the War were. A Nation Divided In 1861 the American Civil War erupted after many years of conflicts between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy). These conflicts included western expansion, States rights versus federal authority, and slavery. With the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 seven Southern states (South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) declared their succession from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Four more states (Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas) joined the Confederation after start of the Civil War. The Confederates wanted to remain slave State. The Union wanted to bring the country back together as one single, unified nation. Why the North Won the Civil War In 1860 he South’s population was 1/3 slaves. The South relied heavily on the slave trade and not only wanted but needed the slave trade to continue for economic purposes. They wanted to become and independent nation...
Words: 964 - Pages: 4
...CIVIL WAR JOURNALS “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, And is not either to save or destroy slavery” -Abraham Lincoln (1862) THE BACKGROUND CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR (C.W. JOURNAL #1). The Civil War wasn’t only about the fight of freedom for the black people, but also the economics, and the states against the federal rights, lead them to the call of battle. To me, they were important factors that people had their own desire of having the life they wanted. The Economic and social differences between the North and the South became more notable each day. The North needed the South, and the South needed the North. The southern economy was depending on cotton in which they needed the salves to work on. The North had the industries that purchased the raw cotton and turned them into finished goods. This created a major difference in economic attitude, and the North meant the change of society, evolved with different cultures and classes. Other fact that lead them to war was the disagreement the states had against the government. The government felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. This resulted in the idea of nullification. When nullification would not work, the states felt that they were no longer respected and moved towards secession. ELECTION OF 1860 (C.W. JOURNAL #2). The Democratic Party split into Northern and Southern due the slavery issues. In the Northern democratic...
Words: 2459 - Pages: 10
...Civil War Ranked as the deadliest war in American history, the Civil War tore America apart and took the lives of atleast 600,000 citizens. The war sparked mostly from the dispute over the rights of individual states. It lasted from 1861 until General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The American Civil War could have swung in either direction, but many factors suggested that Union Victory was inevitable.55 First off, the manpower on the Union side was much larger and outnumbered the Confederate army strength. There were 20 Northern states fighting against 11 Southern states. When the war broke out, the Confederate Army had an estimated 750,000 soldiers, whereas the Union Army had about 2 milliion soldiers. The Confederate soldiers had many odds against them. A Yankee stood a 1 in 18 chance of dying due to illness and a 1 in 8 chance of dying in battle. A Rebel faced a 1 in 5 chance of dying from disease and a 1 in 8 chance of dying in battle. Military officers such as P.G.T. Beauregard, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee brought major victories for the Southern Army. Their military strategies were efficient and powerful, but then again, so were the actions of the Northern Army. Some of the best military officers on the Union side were Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman and Winfield Scott. It is said that the Union Army had much better teamwork and respect towards their officers, when in fact the Confederate...
Words: 743 - Pages: 3
...When people think of the Civil War many think to the outcome of the war and what resulted in the victory of the North, freeing the slave population and unifying the country as it had once been. We tend to look at the aftermath; however, many do not take a chance to look to how the Civil War started or the significant events and figures during the Civil War. Many people have heard of Fort Sumter, but do they really know the significance of Fort Sumter? This fort holds a true significance in what we call the Civil War. This paper will cover the importance of Fort Sumter and why it is so important to the Civil War and the fate of the United States of America. Fort Sumter was the official start of the Civil War; this battle was located near Charleston, South Carolina on April 12th, 1861 and lasted officially until April 14th, 1861 (CivilWarTrust). This...
Words: 743 - Pages: 3
...anti-Confederate Southerners determined the course/outcome of the civil war. Specific information was given by Freehlng to show how the anti-confederates southerners determined the course and outcome of the civil war. The information is discussed in the following paragraph. According to Freehling, the events beyond the battlefields partially determined military verdicts. Furthermore, home front and battlefront unveiled defining aspects of civil war. The division within the south also helped pave the path toward the war and also, the division among the southern and home front dissensions determined battlefield verdicts. The outcome of the war was the collapse of the confederacy that was caused by the defeat in the military sphere, rather than dissolution behind the lines. Anti-confederate southerners piled on psychological, economical and geographical burdens that ultimately helped flatten white confederate’s resiliency. President Abraham Lincoln’s statecraft, the union’s anaconda military strategy, northern democrats and English men’s attitudes seemingly tangential matters bore vitally on southern anti-confederates capacity to influence the battlefields and to illuminate important characteristics of civil war. The tale of the southern house divided, highlights under appreciated gems of civil war lore, including revealing code words, colorful luminaries, key battles and vital military orders, this tells why the war came. In conclusion, the anti-confederate southerners...
Words: 1730 - Pages: 7
...Civil War Advantages In this short essay I will be talking about the advantages that both the North and the South had during The Civil War. The Civil War was the fight for slavery, the war between the North and the South. The North was trying to abolish slavery, while the South was trying to spread it even more. First we will start off with the advantages of the North, the North outnumbered the South twenty-two million to eight million. They also had more railroad and more factories to make weapons and other stuff that they would need during the war. One reason they had so many more people is because they let blacks fight with them, but occasionally when the blacks got caught they would either be sold or just straight up killed. Here the...
Words: 383 - Pages: 2
...How does the US Civil War define Americans? In the Civil War, Americans collectively repudiated slavery, and were willing to fight very hard to preserve their country from being torn apart by secession, so it was a form of redemption and a demonstration of patriotism. America also fought very hard in WWI, and WW II, and the Cold War, and in the current war on terror, so the Civil War would not still be the dominant symbol of American patriotism, but it remains important. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2702949?uid=3739960&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21106146471671 Why did the South loose the War? The main reason was that the North had a 10 to 1 advantage in industrial workers. As general Sherman said to a southern colleague, "We can make a locomotive while you are hard pressed to turn out a pair of shoes." This disparity led to a 40 to 1 advantage in naval strength. Water power allowed the Union to build "Scott's Anaconda", a naval blockade which prevented the South from trading with the rest of the world (trading cotton for guns, for example). The trade embargo was devastating to the South's economy, and their soldiers were often equipped with inferior weapons, not enough food, and ragged and barefoot. It is astonishing that the war lasted as long as it did. The South's only advantage was the superiority of their generalship, and the fighting spirit of the private soldiers, but the best generals and the best soldiers could not win against the...
Words: 370 - Pages: 2
...Dr. Garrison March 3, 2008 Civil War One of the main reasons that made the Civil War happen was the “gap” between the North and South. They diverge about many things, including slavery and foreign policy, and have different customs and values. In instance, the North and South diverge deeply in almost everything. North’s economy was based on commercial industry, with trade and commerce being the main source of economic growth, they were pro abolition and their trade was concentrated in the internal market. On the other hand, the South was expanding its agrarian economy, using slaves, and not changing its character. Besides that, most goods that came from South’s plantations were sold to European countries, ignoring sometimes the internal market. In addition to the differences between North and South, the failure of the Crittenden Compromise came to be what people was waiting to the war begins. The Civil War began on April 14, 1861, with the Confederates (South) bombarding the Fort Sumter. After take control of the Fort, four more slave states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. The advantages of the North were: advanced industrial system, which made them able to manufacture almost all their war material, better transportation system (more and better railroads than the South). Their disadvantages were: fight in hostile ground, divided opinion about the war, and unstable support until...
Words: 385 - Pages: 2