Why Did The South Win The Civil War Essay

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Introduction The Civil War began with the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861. The battle lasted two days from April 12 to April 13 and resulted in Confederate forces capturing Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. However, as we all know, the Confederacy would go on to lose the war and the Union would be the victor. After the Civil War there arose speculation that the Confederacy could have one the Civil War. However, given the advantages the North had over the South such speculations are suspect. In this debate we will convey to you, the audience, why we believe the South did not have a chance of winning the Civil War and why Union victory was inevitable. Reason 1 Economy: Most of the nation’s economy was located in the North. In …show more content…

Because of the Confederacy’s militant belief in states’ rights Southern governors were constantly at odds with each other. According to Frank Owsley, “Southern governors had obstructive policies which handicapped the ability to mobilize men and resources for war.” Furthermore, according to David Donald, “There was too much individualism, dissent, and criticism of the government in the Confederacy.” In fact, two Confederate governors, Governor Brown of Georgia and Governor Vance of North Carolina, were more concerned with their own power than the power of the Confederacy as a whole, thus they withheld arms and men from the Confederate army just so they could strengthen their own militias. Furthermore, not all in the Confederacy were loyal. East Tennessee was very Unionist and as such resisted Confederate drafts, refused to pay Confederate taxes, and actively resisted the Confederate government. The Confederacy also faced civil unrest due to dwindling resources, inflation, an increase in refugees, a housing shortage, a draught, and other such problems. This resulted in the bread riots, so called because people started to protest the rising cost of bread. The lack of unity and cohesion in the South meant that it could not keep up morale, thus resulting in quite a few soldiers deserting the

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