why civil war?

Question

when i made a study of American history, i was under the impression that the South people seem to be loyal,polite and academic ,yankees which refered to northern states,were cruel and crude....so why the gentleman lost the war and the rogue won the war?

Answer 1

Some very good answers above.
I have to add that it is difficult to defend the "gentlemen" of the South who kept over four million people in slavery in order to live their genteel life style. It's indefensible to say they were the "good guys."
I agree with the above answer that there were good and bad people on both sides. The whole thing was tragic. Over 600,000 men dead and many others crippled since six out of seven wounded men survived their wounds and the medical care of the time.
Be careful of over-generalizations. Answers in history are usually not simple. Apologists for the South will say that the war was about "state's rights". It was. It was about the right of the states to have slavery if the men wanted it. (Remember, no women could vote at that time. Only the men had political power.)
I love the South. I live here. But the men who refuse to give up slavery and resorted to a massive war should not be painted in glowing colors.

Answer 2

I am not sure what resources you used when you made your "study" of American History, but they mave have contained a lot of southern bias - which still continues to this very day. Why else would one call a nation of millions of diverse people "rogues," "cruel and rude?"

I think there are many who still believe the myth about the southern gentleman. As far as being loyal, polite, and academic goes, I suggest reading further sources - especially about the "peculiar institution" of slavery which many of the southern "gentlemen" were in favor of and many of the northerners were opposed to.

First impressions can be deceiving.

Answer 3

the gentlemen had very few railroads, factories or people to fight for that matter.
The North had all they needed to run a war, the south had nothing but couragous and brillent generals. The war was fought on Southern soil ruining what little the South had. It's amazing that they could fight as well and as long as they did. Probably couldn't have if the blockade had been tighter earlier.

Answer 4

A strange way to put it. Polite , academics that whipped there slaves. Sometimes to death. Hacked off body parts to teach them not to run away. Odd they should lose to cruel and crude northerners that thought slavery immoral. So immoral they organized church groups to help run away slaves get to Canada.
Pictures of swashbuckling southerners don't tell the real story. Just as pictures of union soldiers don't show there sacrifice during the war.

Answer 5

The north was better organized and had better financial and industrial resources. The south was largely agricultural and depended on slave labor to keep it's economy running. Also, since the south seceded from the Union, all governmental structures were in place for the North. The south pretty much had to begin from scratch on everything. also, your generalizations are misguided. The south is often portrayed as being genteel, but there were educated people on both sides, as well as good people and bad ones. You premise has nothing to do with the outcome of the war.

Answer 6

I don't know what you studied, but the North and the South were made up of all kinds of people. Very few southerners were gentlemen plantation owners. There were plenty of ordinary farmers, blacksmiths, store keepers, factory workers, etc. Not all northerners were factory workers, bartenders, etc. They were all Americans. The war was not actually over slavery. It was over States Rights. The southern states seceded from the union and the union wouldn't let them go. They were determined to remain the United States.

Answer 7

We have a saying, "Those who win the war get to write the history" and the Civil War is not that different. The Constitution provided certain rights that the southern states wanted to preserve. Those states chose to band together and fight for those rights. While slavery was the topic that fueled that war, principles started it. If you dig into historical documents and governmental records you will find that both sides made some bad choices. Union commanders who played sides against each other, who chose to operate outside the boundaries of their own government, Confederate commanders who enlisted slaves to fight for them. War has no victors in spite of the outcome. Women loose their husbands, their children. Men loose their spirit. Everyone suffers. In my family heritage I have both Union and Confederate soldiers. Some in the same family chose to fight against each other. Brothers who killed Brothers, Fathers who killed children, the Civil war should not be remembered as the war that ended slavery because although it was outlawed, slaves were still slaves. They were denied rights that any American male had. Women, any person of color and those who were "different" were still oppressed. That rosey "The war is over all the slaves are free" was not true is not true. If all of us are created equal and have equal rights then explain the "glass ceiling" women in business find, when we as a society can focus on things that we share in common instead of things that make us different perhaps we can avoid another civil war, one that pits brother against brother, sister against sister, and takes loved ones from their homes and families.

Answer 8

outnumbered for one. but the north was more industrialized, meaning that they could produce more weaponry than the south because the south was based on crops. In my opinion, i think the south should still be a country because like you said, they were very loyal to their home and they were screwed after johnson's reconstruction era

Answer 9

because they had bigger guns and more ppl than we did