The tactics and technologies developed in this period changed the way we fought, and they are still used in modern combat. The Civil War was a chaotic period in American history. A united America was an incredibly tough opponent; however, a divided America was left scrambling for everything. The industrial works were in the North, the weapons manufacturers in the South. The South had to make do with the weapons they already had due to most of the resources being in the north.
Let’s start with colonists; one of the biggest advantages they had over Britain was they had a major cause for wanting to fight. They were fighting for their independence, pride, liberty and the rights they deserved. They had a desire to win which was probably stronger than England’s desire because they were fighting for their own cause. Another major advantage America had was how far away from home the British were. They were over 3,000 miles from home, leading to poor communication with supply lines and their leaders.
While this impacted our nation, the other competing forces still had a more significant impact. Just like nationalism, sectionalism also had an impact on American history. Sectionalism is when the nation becomes divided over a controversial issue. For example, the North and the South were divided for a very long time because of the issue of slavery. The division was so strong, it eventually led to the Civil War.
Karim 1 Kye Karim History 120 What advantages and disadvantages did each side of have when the Civil War began? The American civil war was huge and it was between the North and the South of the country mainly over human rights issues and the way people were being treated in the south. Things in the South of the country were getting so bad that the push from the majority in the north grew so much that they had to do something to help free people. The larger numbers were by far in the north which would them well for going to war but down in the south they were fighting for what they believed in which would also push them in battle, I’m going to look at how different advantages and disadvantages played out over the war to help one side win. The Civil War went on for four years between 1861 and 1865, looking in from the off set the north of the country was the strongest side by far and completely geared and prepared to go into major conflict.
In retrospect, there are multiple reasons for the South’s loss or for the North’s victory. One of the reasons the North’s victory was their superiority in manpower. Lincoln had at his disposal a population of 22,000,000, compared with a Southern population of 9,000,000, which included 3,500,000 slaves whom they dared not arm. The key difference was, as casualties grew for the Union Army, they reluctantly turned to African Americans. This provided a far larger base from which to draw troops, even though it has been suggested that Southerners were keener to join up than their Union counterparts.
For the North, the Federal Arms Reserve held 437,000 weapons witch was thought to be enough for the Union. Soon each side found out that getting weapons could be a harder task than they thought. There were many different types of weapons used. Standard guns for both sides included the .54 caliber and the .58 caliber rifles. “Pocket pistols” were also common for people like generals and captains and were usually used in the event of an emergency.
Economically slavery and cotton was the best option for the south. The south didn’t want to lose the slaves and were willing to fight to keep them. The temperature and soil in the south were perfect to grow cotton. The north won because of several reasons; the north manufactured 97 percent of the firearms and the north had railroads to transport firearms, soldiers and supplies fast. The north had soldiers who were better trained and more disciplined.
Warren G. Bennis The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority. Ken Blanchard Under the leadership of Generals Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson, it is generally thought that the Confederate military benefited with generals and officers that were superior to that of the Union. In reality, the skill of both the Confederate and Union generals was far more level than is usually believed. The Union itself was able to draw a significant number of officers at the outbreak of the war. In 1861, when the war was finally underway and all possible officers were called in for both the Union and the Confederacy, the Northern army had over nine-hundred officers while the Confederate army had less than three-hundred officers.
Since the South had a larger population they had a bigger army. The Union had a smaller army because of their smaller population in North. In the North they had smaller farms and the South had large plantations. The North and South had many interesting differences and facts from the Civil War. The North and South have many different facts about each other that make the split countries unique.
By the beginning of the Civil War many large cities in the North such as Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago were all connected. The large southern cities were connected as well Charleston, Memphis, Nashville, Mobile. [2] The superior Industrial capabilities of the North began to show with the growth of railroads prior to and during the Civil War. At the onset of the war it was known that the North was far more industrialized then the states of the South. The northern half of the country was an industrialized society focused on the development of large factories to produce goods at mass quantities.