Civil War Advantages

Railroads are not nearly as popular in the United States as they are in European countries. Prior to the American Civil War, railroads were a fairly new, and untried, invention. Compared to carriages and the other modes of transportation at the time, the railroad was far superior. Due to this superiority, they were used to transport soldiers, food, and supplies. A systemic railroad began to spread all across the nation, and both sides of the war used them to their advantage.

The North and the South were prepared to fight a war because of the political advantages each side possessed. The North had an advantage because they had an established, working government. The South had to create a new government after they seceded from the Union. The North’s government had over seventy years to fix any problems in their government. The South also had a political advantage; they were defending their land. This gives the South

The north had more of everything, which meant that the south would run out of resources much faster than the north. This is a prime example of why the union won the war. When the confederacy were running out of resources, the north were still thriving with them. Another example of the union having more resources would be the number of soldiers in the Civil war. “At the beginning of the war the Northern states had a combined population of 22 million people. The Southern states had a combined population of about 9 million. This disparity was reflected in the size of the armies in the field. The Union forces outnumbered the Confederates roughly two to one.” (Document 4). This piece of text explains how many more soldiers the union had. The north had 22 million population, the south only had 9 million. This meant many more soldiers for the north, and many less for the

Historian McPherson argues that “Norther superiority in numbers and resources was a necessary condition for Union victory”. This shows that the North had a major advantage through their larger population, which helped them win the Civil War. The North also had a better industry. In 1860, the North had 6 times as many factories as the South, 10 times the industrial productive capacity and twice as many miles of railway. This proves that the North had an industrial advantage as everything would run normally during the war and supplies would still be produced at high rates.

The lack of emphasis on manufacturing and commercial interest, stemming from the Southern desire to preserve their traditional agricultural society, disadvantaging themselves to the North and their ability to function independently. It was neither Northern troops nor generals that won the Civil War, rather Northern guns and industry. Northern states produced 97% of firearms in the US which allowed war materials to be much more accessible and productive to produce as the North already had these large factory’s, which is

The population of the North is Seventy-One Percent compared to the South at Twenty-Nine Percent. The exact number for the South population is 9 million people while the North had 22 million people. The South had courage and motivation, due to the South defending at home; it made it easier to defend. The South did not have many materials to manufacture goods. The North, however, flourished in the manufacturing area due

The North and South both had many advantages in the Civil War. Political, social, economic, and demographic advantages were some of the advantages that were used. While the North had most of these advantages, the South still managed to win many battles. The North’s advantages mainly pertained to politics, economy, demographics, and social advantages. The South, yet, had the advantage over where the battles were fought.

The ratio in manpower made a big difference, the north had a population of 21 million while the south had slightly over 7 million and only 5.5 million of that were whites. The slaves in the south were clearly no help for the South. To add to that many escaped or freed slaves were able to join the Union army, after Lincoln declared slaves in the southern states “forever free” in 1863.

The northern population is 22 million compared to the southern population of 9 million. With this large population, it is easier for North to draft soldiers, produce more food, and probably raise taxes. Though the South had skilled generals but the North has larger army and people to fight.

The South had many great military leaders. The leaders were then able to teach the soldiers more than what the North could. The North had a supreme advantage on population. The North had 22 million soldiers and workers to draw from while the south only had 5.5 million to draw from. Another huge advantage of the North was all the railroads. The North had 22,00 miles of railroad track whereas the south only had 9,000. The more railroads, the farther and faster you can get supplies out. The military leaders were able to transport troops quickly and politicians were able to travel throughout the country giving speeches, such as the Gettysburg Address, and describing the power and speed of the

    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.

Both the Union and the Confederacy had good military leaders who used and/or invented promising war tactics. The North used a strategy known as the Anaconda Plan. This is where the Union Forces would surround the Confederacy, cut its trade, divide it into two at the Mississippi River, and squeeze it to death. At first the Anaconda Plan was ridiculed, because both sides were originally stuck on old fashion tactics of using mass troops to attack a certain point. When both sides found the new technology in weaponry, made this old strategy suicide the Anaconda Plan was implemented. New technology caused old war tactics to change. Another strategy, I personally like to call “The Jaw” was demonstrated by the brilliant Robert. E. Lee from the South. One war tactic used by Ulysses S. Grant from the North in The Siege of Vicksburg changed the way war was fought from then on. It was called Total War. Total War involves not only war against the opponent’s soldiers but war against their civilians and economic system, in hopes of breaking their moral and in hopes that they give up the thought of winning because victory is just not worth the losses, so defeat may be welcomed. The combination of the ancient technique of total war, which

In the beginning, the Union certainly appeared to be ahead of the Confederate. The North’s population was a major advantage. Around 22 million people lived in Union states. President Lincoln’s leadership in leading the Northern states geographically and politically made the North look superior to the rest (Kramer 119). Coal and iron came from Union mines making the North better in industrialization as well. The urbanization in the Northeast helped tremendously in terms of manufacturing. With the help of immigrants coming in from European countries and mechanized factories, the North was able to make more ammunition, arms, uniforms, medical supplies, and railroad cars. Throughout the war there was a steady flow of blacks fleeing to Union armies (Lapsansky-Werner 360). In the end, the North raised an army of about 1.5 million men. The Northern armies were better fed, armed, and clothed (Farmer). With all

The Civil War had many pros and cons between the North and the South and they were either advantages for one side or not. The North’s advantages were mass production. The United States became one of the world’s leading industrial powers by the 1900’s, but the beginnings of the industrial revolution in the prewar years were almost limited to the regions, north of the Mason-Dixon line. That left the south very far behind. Even though the North had mass production, they still had to conquer more land and they were unfamiliar with invading the South. The South also had skillful

The North’s access to transportation devices was a very big pro which the South did not have. The North had more railroads so they could get around a lot faster than the Southern troops. This gained them a huge advantage by getting them to the next battle site faster than ever before. The South had to take horse drawn carriages or even walk to their destination. The North gained a massive advantage over the South with their transportation system.