American Civil War questions?

Question

American Civil War Questions?
What were the advantages of the North in the Civil war (resources, leadership etc.)?

The reasons why they fought (love of country, defense of home etc.)?

What were the disadvantages of the South?

Answer 1

Advantages of the North
Railroads
a desire to preserve the Union
More men
Lots more men
Support from Great Britain

They fought because they had begun to learn about slavery and what it really was like. It had to stop. They also fought to save the Union that they had fought so hard to create.

The South were way outnumbered, lacked good leadership and didn't have the supplies to win a war against a strong Nothern Army

Answer 2

Ultimately what brought the Civil War to a bloody confrontation was westard expansion.

After the US formed, we began looking westward for colonization. The guiding principle was that of Manifest Destiny. (It was God's will that Americans colonize from ocean to ocean.)

Once we bought the Louisiana territory, we fought a war with Mexico.

With each consecutive acquisition/conquest of land the question about slavery came up. Should new states be free from slavery, or should slavery be legal.

Since half the country was in the South, half the country favored legal slavery.

Now, the North began to industrialze and began relying less and less on slave labor, and more and more on cheap immigrant labor.

As a result, Northerners began to get politically active to ban slavery in the nation.

Various bad policies in the 1850s brought the explosive topic of slavery to a boiling point.

Ultimately, the arguments of the time were:
1) Why in a society that claims to be free and democratic are there slaves?
2) What right does the federal government have to take away property which is legal to own?
3) How much power should a centralized federal government have? Should states have more power or less than the federal government?

The North had the advantage of numbers and industry. The South had the advantage of better fighters and military leadership.

The main reason the North fought was to preserve the union. The South was in a state of rebellion and Mr. Lincoln acted to crush it. The North supported Lincoln in this regard. (People began to sour on the war after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in rebel territory. Many began to desert the military and stop fighting. However, many African-Americans signed up to fight.)

The South was fighting for honor, civic pride, and the rights of property and liberty. (The question of slavery wasn't debated. It became a badge of national pride to own them.)

To date, the Civil War is the bloodiest that the US has ever fought. Over 600,000 died from that war.

Answer 3

- The North had a significant population advantage over the south

- The North was more industrialized with more factories and railroads, which moved troops and produced more weapons. Also many more immigrants came to the north than to the south, where'd they have to compete with slaves (no contest).

- The South had better leadership, arguebly, espcially in the army itself. A large majority of them studied at West Point.

The reasons they fought:
Slavery was the primary cuase of the civil war but the South decided to seceed for their right to keep slavery and also becuase they were being dominated by the north politcally and economically.

Once the war started the south fought to protect itself and for country. The north fought to preserve the Union and to abolish slavery.

The south had a small population and of course women were not allowed to fight officially; (many disguised themselves), and a very large number were slaves. The South only had two cities of any size or importance compared to the north, New Orleans, and Richmond, VA.

Also, near the end of the war the south had exausted all of its manpower even through drafting; there wasn't much left.

Answer 4

There is many answers here's a few that I have recently learned

The North had a large military force compared to the South
The North had a navy the South didn't.

As for reasons people might say slavery but slavery was just an issue that sparked the war. It was really about State rights, different definitions of liberty and freedom, believes and Values.

Answer 5

The 'self-interest' answer suggested by a cousin was that Lincoln needed to free up the labour tied up in the southern plantations to make it available for the burgeoning industries of the north. Once the slaves were freed from the plantations they could be hired as normal labour. What role idealism played in the precipitation of the war is a moot point - as I feel all political decisions are. For example, a modern day example would be: is the US concerned about the democracy of the Iraqi people or was that war decided on to protect the oil supplies? As much as we would like to believe that our leaders are above board and that humanitarianism would be the first consideration, unfortunately it is the nature of power that the elected chief is expected to act in the interests of his tribe first - hence decisions that will protects home interests take priority. The humanitarian consideration nearly always comes second. It is only ever placed first if, by association with the higher moral ground, it will have positive repercussions for the government further down the line.

Answer 6

The North had more factories with which to make the weapons & other things needed for fighting,like rifles,cannons.They fought for individual state rights,not just the right to have slaves. The south was literally behind in manufacturing of goods. Their main products were cotton& tobacco. They were to laid back. The souths economy was not as good as the Norths.

Answer 7

The North had all kinds of factories, could mass produce guns,bullets, cannons etc. The South had nothing but cotton. The North was able to basically starve the South, they bottled up the harbors, ripped up all the railways and caused destruction all the way to Savannah Georgia. William Tecumseh Sherman basically won the war for the North. His armies marched 60 miles wide and caused starvation , death and destruction on their march to Savannah

Answer 8

Northern Advantages (Southern Disadvantages)

Manufacturing Capabilities


The primary advantage was the North's manufacturing capabilities. Their factories could mass produce weapons while the South had few facilities capable of providing the arms needed.

The North had greater production of war materials and comestibles.

The North had experienced an industrial revolution which left them with many factories to produce supplies necessary for outfitting an army. Also, with immigrants coming mostly to the North to settle (they were looking for jobs in the factories), little if any production was lost becasue of men leaving to fight in the war. Women and immigrants had been the main workers in the factories that now would be producing goods to be used by the Union soldiers.

The Southern dependance on agriculture was a major disadvantage and the dependance on slavery made it even harder for the South to industrialize. Being unable to industrialize was a real disadvantage because it meant that the South could not produce all the things they needed for war such as weapons. The Northern blockade also prevented trade with Europe making the situation even worse!

The North was much better equipped with the foundries and factories needed for producing weapons of war. The South was much more geared toward producing raw materials, primarily agricultural products, and sending them elsewhere for conversion into finished goods. The South was thus hard pressed to keep its troops adequately equipped.

Population


The North's had nearly three times the population. (20 million vs. nine million in the South, four million of whom were black slaves.) The larger population provided a steady source of military and civilian manpower, and was important in a war of attrition.

The North had a larger population which translated into the ability to field a larger army. However, while many men (and boys) eagerly went to enlist during the opening months of the Civil War, they lacked the experience needed to fight a war and time had to be taken to properly train the troops.

The North, being more populous, was also able to field a larger army, and to replace combat casualties. Grant, for example, refused prisoner exchange offers from the South, for the strategic reason that the South needed their soldiers back much worse than did the North.

Naval Power


The Northern navy prevented many supplies from being imported by the South. They blockaded ports.

Agricultural Capacity


The North grew most of the country's food, and a fighting army can get very hungry. The South had the plantations, but mostly cash crops were grown there.

The North had more farm land to produce crops.

Transportation Infrastructure


The North had better railroads and highways, including naval and civil shipping resources used to resupply forces in the field.

The North possessed a large amount of the country's railroad and canal systems. These would be vital in the quick and easy transportation of troops and supplies.

The North several times the amount of railroad mileage upon which to transport their armies and supplies to the battle fronts

More railroads meant better communication as well as better transportation.

The North had about 22,000 miles of railroad and the South only had about 9,000 miles of railroad. This means that they could not reinforce troops as quickly as the North could.

[Note that "interior lines" is cited as an advantage of the South, meaning that their transportation infrastructure was where it was needed most.]

Not Fighting on Their Own Soil


This helped protect their industrial and transportation resources.

[Note that "Fighting on Their Own Soil" is considered a Southern advantage for other reasons.]

Political Stability and Recognition


The North also possessed an in-place, working government while the South was struggling to put their government together and fight a war at the same time.

The South had to worry about their slave population revolting and causing trouble for the troops.

The world recognized the Union as the legitimate government, allowing loans and trade concessions. [Note that South's cotton was desired in England. There was concern that England would side with the South despite England's stance against slavery.]

Military Infrastructure


The North already had a well-trained and organized standing army and navy. The Confederacy had to build theirs at the start of the war.

Military Leadership


The North's tactics and generals outweighed the South's tenfold. The North's Anaconda Plan was to blockade, divide, and conquer the South. They literally constricted the South into submission. The North also did not set a specific time limit for which they thought the war would end. The South, however, only planned for eighteen months of fighting. This restricted their options on war tactics. The North's superior generals were a major factor in the defeat of the South. U.S. Grant never lost a battle in the entire time frame of the Civil War, and even single handedly negotiated the surrender of General Lee's army at Appomattox courthouse on April 9, 1865.

[Note that military leadership is often cited as an advantage of the South.]
[outsiders opinion: when you say Grant did not lose an entire battle what about the battle of cold harbor? or the battle of the wilderness? Grant was played the war right in the fact that he took it as a total war, he used every bit of manpower the North had and that was the way to win, but he was also terribly lucky in several circumstances where he was almost caught with his hands in the cookie jar. I think clearly just having Lee and Jackson the south had the better commanding army, but it took a general with no hesitation to fight and lose troops like Grant to dismantle the south's ability to stay alive. The North HAD to utilize their advantage of manpower in order to widdle down the Confederates troops. Similar to the way you play poker heads up when you are the high stack. You have to continue to push chips on the other player in order to make them take chances.]

[True. Ulyssess Grant was a great general, but he lead his men into horrible massacres. He let 7,000 men die in one battle, and this hindered the Unions victory. Had he attacked elsewhere, or learned more about the Southern setup, the losses could have been lower.]

Money


The North had much more money with which to pay for it all.




They fought over slavery and keeping the union together.

Answer 9

I only wish that Lee would have fought on and if he knew the state of America today he surely would have fought to the last man. Our country is being invaded to the south by illegal aliens with the help of our own government.

Answer 10

the reason y they were fighting is the north wanted to free slaves and the south didnt