...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
...April 20th 2009 The Confederacy entered the Civil War with several disadvantages which resulted in the Union predicted a short and easily combated war. Yet despite all their shortcomings the South shocked everyone by turning the Civil War into a four year skirmish resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and the destruction of much of the country. Though the Confederacy did hold off the Union for a longer period of time then expected their lack of industry, the confederate army’s tendency to only fight on the offensive combined with the failure of the Confederacy to be recognized as a nation by a foreign power led to the South’s demise. The economies of the North and the South differed drastically during the antebellum period leading up to secession. The South came to be known as a mostly agrarian society based mostly on the work of the farm and plantation. The North became a champion of industrialization, holding most of factories and the work force to man those factories. During the Civil War creation of new supplies became a constant need for both sides of the conflict. The Union found advantage in that the Northern factories produced the majority of the ammunition. Not only did the Union army have the majority of the fire power they also possessed access to more ways of transportation through railroads, ships and wagons. Being able to transport supplies and soldiers over great distances gave the North great advantage. The Confederacy who lacked the same level of...
Words: 669 - Pages: 3
...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
...Of The Civil War The Civil War consisted of many legendary battles over the soil of the United and Confederate States of America, which will be retold for generations in history books. Although these land battles were indeed great, the idea of this paper will be the Naval warfare of the Civil War, paying certain attention to the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. Neither the North nor the South was prepared for Naval activities at the beginning of the war. To better prepare the Navy for war, three new designs were put into action for future ships. The most successful of these designs was the Monitor. The South was at a disadvantage to the North throughout the war. The South was lacking manpower during the war, since most of the seamen in the US Navy were from the North and therefore stayed with the Union when the southern states seceded. The South was also found disadvantaged for iron plates for ship armor, since there was only one establishment in the South capable of producing them. The South, knowing their disadvantage in numbers, made the call for commerce raiding of northern ships. The southern government encouraged privateering of northern ships. This privateering would help take the burden of building up the Navy off the government, since privately owned ships and sailors would be assisting the Confederate war goals. The response of the North was the blockade on the southern states. This dealt a similar blow to the South that privateering...
Words: 1165 - 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
...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
...University Of Phoenix Civil War Paper By Shane Iverson 12/23/2012 HIS/115 The Civil war was a huge war fought over territories and freedom. Over 600,000 Americans lost their lives in this war, with the North having been more effected. The North had no regrets about the war. They were satisfied that the slaves were free, and the Union was preserved. The South began to glorify what they called “the lost cause”. The generals from the south became mythic heroes. As they looked back at the war they almost regretted surrendering. Historian Shelby Foote left us with this note. “Any understanding of this nation has to be based . . . on an understanding of the Civil War. . . . The Civil War defined us as what we are, and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. It is very necessary if you’re going to understand the American character in the 20th century to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-19th century. It was the crossroads of our being”. What does this tell us about the United States? What did Foote mean when he spoke these words? We may also think to ourselves. Why didn’t the South win? There leaders were supposedly brilliant and they lost fewer men then the North, right? What did Historian Shelby Foote mean in his quote above? He is saying that it is necessary to learn about this huge catastrophe that happened in...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...Compromise of 1850 attempted to answer all of the contemporary issues pertaining to the institution of slavery. Describe the major positions on slavery and the contending issues about this institution in 1850. How did the terms of the Compromise of 1850 seek to resolve these issues? In 1850, there were five positions on the institution of slavery. The first position was anti-slavery. This was predominantly felt by those in the north. Those with this view felt slavery could exist in the south but could not be expanded into the new territories. They felt slavery should mostly for economic issues. Plantations with slaves produced higher quantities faster. This meant lower costs. The next position was the abolitionist position. This view was held by a very small minority in the north and almost none in the south. Abolitionists felt slavery should be ended everywhere, even in the south and should not be permitted to expand into the territories. There were two types of abolitionists. There were colonizers who not only wanted to end slavery in the south but they wanted people of color to be shipped to another country because they felt the different races would never get along. Colonizers thought black people could start their own colonies elsewhere. The second type of abolitionists was egalitarians. They, like colonizers, wanted slavery to end everywhere but they felt enslaved persons were Americans and therefore thought they were entitled to all the rights and privileges...
Words: 2726 - Pages: 11
...The Civil War marked a major turning point in economic, political, and social status’ of Northern and Southern populations during the 1860’s due to differing levels of resources and support for the opposing sides. It was a central event in history that truly sparked consciousness in America. While the Revolution of 1776 created the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865 determined what kind of nation it would be. The war resolved two fundamental questions left unresolved by the revolution: whether the United States was to be a dissolvable union of independent states or an indivisible nation with a dominant national government; and whether this nation, born on a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world. During the war, the Southern and Northern economic statuses were exponentially different. The North was experiencing a time of great economic growth as industries began to grow and newer, more modern technology became available. By 1860, about 90 percent of the nation’s manufacturing came from the northern states which proved to have an immense impact on its war-winning ability. For every 100 firearms produced by the South, the North had made 3,200. The South on the other hand remained predominantly based in agriculture and the dwindling slave market. Even in the agricultural sector, Northern farmers were out-producing their southern counterparts in several important areas,...
Words: 1263 - Pages: 6
...Civil War Paper Learning Team A HIS/110 Professor Joe Getzlemen Historian Shelby Foote Shelby Foote was a writer and historian that became famous for his three-volume, 3,000-page books about the Civil War. In 1990, an 11-hour series on public television was shown based on his books.. With over 14 million viewers, he was instantly in the spotlight. Although he was not born until some 50 years after the Civil War, his great-grandfather was Confederate Captain Hezekiah William Foot, a slave owner. Shelby himself was born in Mississippi and lived in other southern states such as Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. He attended the University of North Carolina but left to take a writing job at a Mississippi newspaper. When the United States joined the fight in World War II, Shelby joined the National Guard and reached the rank of captain. After being discharged in 1945 he returned home to Mississippi and began writing again. He published five books in five years, but it wasn’t until 1953 that he would begin his trilogy on the Civil War. During an appearance of the public broadcasting, he was quoted as saying “Any understanding of this nation has to be based…on an understanding of the Civil War…The Civil War defined us as what we are, and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. It is very necessary if you’re going to understand the American character in the 20th century to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-19th century. It was the crossroads...
Words: 1616 - Pages: 7
...American Civil War through enticing the European powers to intervene in the civil war. Although Britain and France had abolished slavery in their own perspective countries, as a rising industrial country, sustaining the textile industry through the cotton industry of the confederate states was as important as freeing the slaves (Mattstodayinhistory.blogspot.com). If the slaves were freed, then the southern plantations, who depended on the hands of the slaves to produce and collect the cotton, would go out of business, therefore affecting European textile markets. Great Britain and France would have to find other means to replenish that source, which would take up time, money and resources. Britain and France realized the Confederates were at a less advantage to the Union in the civil war. The confederates only had military prowess since most of the military schools are located in south such as West Point. The Confederates only had knowledge about military strategies and an agriculture based economy, particularly in cotton. The Union, on the other hand, had become an industrial based economy and had huge population. Although the war was fought...
Words: 528 - Pages: 3
...Civil War Paper The Civil War was fought between Americans from the North and the South. Many factors led to the eventual conflict, but none was more important than the issue of slavery. While Northerners felt slavery was essentially against what America stood for, Southerners depended on slavery to maintain their economy. The conflict resulted in the South wanting to secede from the Union and exist as a collection of Confederate states acting as their own country. The North (Union) insisted on keeping the United States in-tact and abolishing slavery from the South. After four to five years and a collection of bloody battles, the North won the war despite having military leaders who were not as experienced as the South’s and sustaining more casualties. In the documentary The Civil War, historian Shelby Foote stated, “Any understanding of this nation has to be based…on an understanding of the Civil War . . . The Civil War defined us as what we are, and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. It is very necessary if you’re going to understand the American character in the 20th century to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-19th century. It was the crossroads of our being.” (Burns & Burns, Episode 1: the cause, 1990) What Foote was referring to in this quote was how the Civil War shaped the United States into the great power it has been known for since the end of the war. After the war ended, America began a period of tremendous growth, led by...
Words: 1382 - Pages: 6
...Thought Paper Writing Assignment on: Life in the South Many colonists came to America because of a desire to prosper and to start a new life. The majority of the settlers were males under the age of twenty. They didn’t realize how harsh it was going to be in the South. I am sure they did not expect to die like so many of them did. The life that they hoped for was not the life that they received. The Southern colonies were an ideal place for agriculture. The long, warm, and moist climate was perfect for growing cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, rice, and indigo. Its rivers were useful for transportation. The hot weather made life in the south harsh and a death expectancy that was shorter than New England’s. There were four classes of settlers; they were the plantation owners, the middle class farmers, the indentured servants, and the slaves. Almost half of the settlers were indentured servants or slaves. How life was in the Southern colonies depended upon which class of people you came from. In a plantation, the wealthy planters’ children were educated at home by teachers that their parents hired; they had easy lives. They learned reading, writing, dancing, and music. Boys learned to ride horses and hunt, and spent lots of time outdoors. The older boys were taught how to run the plantation. The indentured servants were people who came to the colonies on contract. Their hopes were to come to America for a better opportunity of a good life. They would have their fare...
Words: 2175 - Pages: 9
...BGS 3996-The American Civil War in Literature and Film Fall 2013 Final Paper December 7, 2013 BGS 3996-The American Civil War Final Paper The American Civil War was a dark time in our nation’s history, but as with most events in history, there are both positive and negative aspects and conclusions to be drawn from this war. How someone views the positives vs. negatives is going to vary based on what side of the war they find themselves agreeing with and supporting. If your family had strong southern ties, what you view as a negative is likely to be seen as positive to someone from the northern states. This would especially be true when looking at the war from a “costs of war” perspective; it is arguable that the South lost much, much more in this war than just being defeated by the North. The damage to southern land, homes and plantations was devastating, but was also unavoidable given that the vast majority of all battles took place on southern soil. Also because of this, the southern states lost out on crops and experienced losses in production during the war. The destruction to southern soil made it nearly impossible for them to produce anything of value in the way of food. Southern soil isn’t ideal for crops like corn to begin with, and since so much land was destroyed, then chances of having any yields of crops that were able to produce food for southern soldiers and civilians was nearly impossible. In addition to the property damage and loss of crops experienced...
Words: 1223 - Pages: 5
...Slavery had been around since the early 16th century and had been only a minor problem until the cotton gin was created in 1793 by Eli Whitney. With the increase in cotton crops came an increased need for workers who in this case were slaves. Southern states had greatly benefited from the cotton crops but had a disadvantage due to the lack of commercial towns and decrease in culture and education. On the other hand, Northern states had more factories and better access to rivers and places to trade with foreign countries. Soon the clash of differences would cause a war between the North Union and the South...
Words: 596 - Pages: 3
