Why Was The Confederacy Defeated By Alan Farmer

Beginning as a battle of army versus army, the war became a conflict of society against society. In this kind of war, the ability to mobilize economic resources, the effectiveness of political leadership, and a society’s willingness to keep up the fight despite setbacks, are as crucial to the outcome as success or failure on the battlefields. Unfortunately for the Southern planters, by the spring of 1865, the South was exhausted, and on April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the war.

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 Civil War that took place in the United States from 1861 to 1865 could have easily swung either way at several points during the conflict. There is however several reasons that the North would emerge victorious from this bloody war that pit brother against brother. Some of the main contributing factors are superior industrial capabilities, more efficient logistical support, greater naval power, and a largely lopsided population in favor of the Union. Also one of the advantages the Union had was that of an experienced government, an advantage that very well might have been one of the greatest contributing factors to their success. There are many reasons factors that lead to the North's victory, and each of these elements in and

The statement “the North won the Civil War, but the South won Reconstruction.” can be interpreted many ways but for someone who has knowledge in the Civil War and Reconstruction and has studied this would know that is a true statement. As we all know, after four years and the over 700,000 dead the North was able to defeat the South. This should not have been a shocker for South because the North’s population more than doubled the South’s (2.2 million for the North versus the South’s 1 million), the technology for the North was way more advanced than the South’s. Also lastly the North were still able to trade goods which led them to having a surplus of money to buy more weapons to further aid the Union soldiers. In the end all these advantages were too much for the South who finally surrendered to the North on

First of all, the North won the Civil War because they won the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle was one of the most crucial in the war. To win this was another step towards victory. The website, "Nps.gov" states, "The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, sometimes referred to as the 'High Water Mark of the Rebellion' resulted not only in Lee's retreat to Virginia, but an end to the hopes of the Confederate States of America for independence" (Nps.gov). The evidence is saying that this loss for the South ended all of their hopes for victory. Since the North won the Battle of Gettysburg they are one step closer to victory, and bringing the Union back together again. The battle took away all the hope from the Southern states. The Northern states won the Civil war because they were able to defeat the Confederate armies at the battle of Gettysburg.

As mentioned, the north won because of the major battles, and the technology. During the civil war the north was attacked by Robert E Lee and his Confederate troops at Gettysburg Maryland Pennsylvania. One of the crucial battles of the civil war. According to Nps.gov “Robert E Lee had a chance to encounter the union for the first time. What began as a chance encounter quickly turned into a desperate,

“Why did the North win the Civil War?” is only half of a question by itself, for the other half is “Why did the South lose the Civil War?” To this day historians have tried to put their finger on the exact reason for the South losing the war. Some historians blame the head of the confederacy Jefferson Davis; however others believe that it was the shear numbers of the Union (North). The advantages and disadvantages are abundant on either sides of the argument, but the most dominate arguments on why the South lost the war would be the fact that state’s rights prevented unification of the South, Jefferson Davis poor leadership and his failure to work together with his generals, the South failed to gain the recognition of the European nations, North’s superior resources made the outcome inevitable, and moral of the South towards the end of the war.

The North was the symbol of progress for the United States. They were much more technologically and morally developed than the South. They had a much higher population and were better supplied and equipped than the South. They also had the African Americans fighting on their side which gave them a more diverse fighting force (Witt). Although they initially lost many battles and lost many more men than the South, they were able to overwhelm the South in both numbers and supplies. This is what led them to victory.

Many historians have tried to offer their ideology on the outcome of the Civil War. McPherson in his “American Victory, American Defeat” writes about what other historians have decreed their answers to why the Confederacy lost. He tells us the reasons that could not be the explanation for the loss, and explains the internal reasons but leaves the true cause of the loss untold. Freehling explains the defeat by discussing what could have been and then gives reasons to negate some of the cases that he states for the outcome of the Confederacy. Both McPherson and Freehling both agreed that there were other factors besides battles that needed to be looked at.

A frequently, and sometimes hotly, discussed subject; the outcome of the American Civil War has fascinated historians for generations. Some argue that the North's economic advantages proved too much for the South, others that Southern strategy was faulty, offensive when it should have been defensive, and vice-versa. Internal division in the South is often referred to, and complaints made against Davis' somewhat makeshift, inexperienced, government. Doubts are sometimes raised over the commitment of Southerners to a cause many of them were half-hearted about. Many historians have argued that the South lost the will to fight long before defeat was inevitable. However, many of these criticisms could easily be applied to the North, had the

"If wars are won by riches, there can be no question why the North eventually prevailed." The North was better equipped than the South, with the resources necessary to be successful in a long term war like the Civil War was, which was fought from 1861 – 1865. Prior, and during the Civil war, the North's economy was always stronger than the South's, boasting of resources that the Confederacy had no means of attaining. Compared to the South, The North had more factories available for production of war supplies and larger amounts of land for growing crops. Its population was several times of the South's, which was a potential source for military enlistees. Although the South had better naval leadership and commanders, such as Robert E. Lee

For one, the North wasn’t as united as the South. While the Confederacy fought for their way of life, the North fought for politicians (Confederate States). They were also fighting in unknown territory. In order to win, they would have to seize control over a large area of land (Davidson and Stoff pg 488). Finally, the North couldn’t find a good military leader for most of the war. Most of the military colleges were in the South, so the North was at a huge disadvantage in leadership and skill (Confederate States).

However this effected the South because they failed to grow their industrial platform. The North had 66% of railroad mileage when the South had only 34%. This shows by far that the North was more industrialized than the South. Since the Union had more mileage of railroad they were able to have their men, food, and materials transported for a long distance in a short period of time. Unlike the North the South was unfortunate to not have such an advanced railroad. The South was able to transport some distance but not nearly the amount of mileage the North could cover. This shows very clearly the South simply lost the war due to their lack of interest in improving their resource industry and industrial

The Confederate Constitution put too much emphasis on individual and states rights and did not stress the responsibilities of the individual or the state to the federal government.

The South was viewed by many in the United States and elsewhere as a robust, self-sufficient economy (Surdam, 2001, p. 1). It produced much of the world's supply of cotton and Texans bragged that their cattle could feed the world. What the South lacked in manufacturing was compensated for by the immense wealth produced from raw cotton, cattle, and corn exports. Obviously, the predictions that the South could survive a war with the North due to its economic self-sufficiency were wrong. This essay analyzes the possible reasons for the failure of the Confederacy to win the Civil War.