Do the historians argue that the South lost the Civil War or that the North won it? Do they argue that the North’s advantages or the South’s weakness were more important? What is their most important evidence to answer that question? In this chapter, historians present arguments from their perspectives as to why they believe the North won the war. Historian, George Frederickson addresses the blue over the gray and sources of success and failure in the Civil War. He emphasizes the North’s advantages providing many plausible explanations of why the North won. He mentions the North’s advantages in manpower, resources, and industrial capacity. The North had an excess of three to one readily available manpower. For every southern industrial worker, the North had a factory or workshop. He highlights, that the North possessed over seventy percent of the nation’s railroad that expanded over 31,000 miles. Frederickson mentions that historians argued that the South “whipped itself” because they did not believe strongly enough in its cause, that the North had a better cause and higher morale. The northerners defined their cause as the preservation of the Union. Frederickson points out that the North had superior leadership and that Lincoln was unquestionably superior to Davis (pages 292-293) …show more content…
He points out that the economic resources and logistical capacity that sustained the North while noting that the South’s defeat was due to the loss of will. He emphasizes the superior leadership of Lincoln’s and his remarkable abilities to widen the edge over Davis as a war leader. In addition, he highlights the Union’s victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, concluding with the statement that the “northern victory and southern defeat in the war cannot be understood apart from the contingency that hung over every campaign, every battle, every election, every decision during the
“The American Civil War was the greatest war in American history. 3 million fought - 600,000 paid the ultimate price for freedom. And a war for freedom, it was. The desire for freedom traveled deeper than the color of skin and farther than the borders of any state.” The general of the civil war is Ulysses S. Grant, he was a general in the north and here from a site I have more information “It was Grant's understated brilliance that won The Civil War.
As the war raged on, and the North began to panic over the outcome, Grant became even more composed, grim, and confident that the battle tactics in place would bring about a victory for the Union. (Schlesinger, 82). Grant said; "I may be mistaken, but I feel our success over Lee's army is already insured. " (Perret, 328). There is also evidence of General Ulysses S. Grant's fearless and confident attitude.
The North also produced 17 times more cotton than the South, 30 times more leather goods, and more essentials to the war. All and all, the South was seriously out supplied by their counterparts, and still nearly pulled off the upset. This is the first reason why Robert E. Lee is the greatest general of the Civil War. Reason 2: The Confederates had much less men than the Union and Lee nearly still won Going into the war, the Union were the
The main idea of this book is how different people view the topic on the Confederacy’s defeat: why, how, and what happened? Most of the authors whose work contributed to this book
Even though the Union won the war, it was not inevitable because of the South’s political and military leadership. Superior leadership is often seen as the main reason for the Union victory. However, the Confederacy was well led. Although President Lincoln was more superior to Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee thought Davis was a good fit for the South. Davis worked hard and did his best to motivate Southerners.
The North had beaten the South in the Civil War. The North won the war for many reasons; they had some advantages over the South, a great leader, and the desire to win. The North and South fought many battles before the Civil War ended. Each battle had a different outcome and some encouraging the fight and some ended in despair.
Why the North Won the Civil War When the first shots were fired on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, both the Northern and the Southern sides expected the American Civil War to be short and sweet. When the war did not end until spring of 1865, four long years later, with a victory for the Union, many Americans were shocked. The Civil War came about primarily because of economic differences between the North and the South. The North and South had very different economies, moral beliefs, and cultural differences. While the Union had many advantages, such as manpower, industry and political structure, the Confederacy was able to compensate for most of these with their own strategic advantages, such as military leadership, control
The American Civil War was a long and violent conflict, pitting the southern slave-owning Confederacy against the northern, socially progressive “Yankees” of the Union government. The Union government won the war based on many factors, most of which relate to its superior resources but also include poor planning on the part of the Confederacy. At first glance the conflict seemed much more even-handed in appearance than it was in reality. The differences in the attitudes of the two factions were striking. The Confederates were not only convinced that they could not be invaded, but were utterly convinced as to the truth of their cause.
Back in 1861 a war started against the North and South. For South it was a war that could either save or wreck their way of life. The South was fighting for slaves, more specifically to keep them. It was a fierce battle that lasted until 1865, both sides had their ups and downs but in the end North walked away with the victory. So what helped the North win?
I think one of the major factors leading the south to victory was their leader, Abraham Lincoln. though he had no experience in fighting, he was a major influence for the people. He could form himself to the emotions of the people. He was always giving them what they needed emotionally to fight the war. I think this is what allowed the South the carry through the war with a consistent strength.
During the time period of the Civil War in America, there were many differences between the two regions of the North and the South. Each had strengths and weaknesses, involving resources, military experience, etc.; however, the North had more strengths and less weaknesses than the South, as they eventually won the war. Many battles were fought, and one can’t help but wonder, what could have changed this result? And what would have come from a Union defeat? I strongly believe that with a few clutch victories in some major battles and using other countries for resources, the South could have been victorious and succeeded; however, they would have endangered both themselves and the United States to the vultures of the rest of the world, who were
History Project Austin Bonds History 1301 Wooten Alternate History What If the South would have won the Civil War?
After four long years, the Unions won the war which saw to it that both parties ended up as a united nation once again. The North overpowered and defeated the South due to a number of reasons as illustrate below. To begin with, the fact that the South majored in agriculture made them to be left behind in terms of industrialization, an important factor during the civil war since fabricated merchandise was highly regarded than agricultural products. The North was therefore privileged to be in a better position in production of armory since it was able to host firms that manufactured ammunitions and war locomotives. The South was poorer, since cotton was no longer making ready income and they only had a few manufacturing origins.
The North had many advantages over the South the helped them win the civil war. These reasons included a central leadership, more resources, and recruiting black men for their armies. These reasons helped the North win the civil war and play a big part in how successful they would be. With having advantages, better tactics when fighting, and also a higher population, the North would use strategic planning to fight the South and ultimately win the civil war.
A question that everyone asks themselves. What if the outcome of the civil war would have been different? What if the south would have won the war? The nation as we know it would be different. First off, all the trigger events in the civil war would have changed.