Traditional history holds that the South was defeated by overwhelming Union manpower and resources. That same history states that the South only lasted as long as it did (four years) because of the brilliance of the South’s (and even America’s) greatest general, Robert E. Lee (Thomas, 1995). The fact is the South could have won the Civil War. History shows many wars have been won by the weaker opponent. The American Revolution demonstrated that a vastly inferior American army (with no Navy) was able to outlast and when needed decisively fight and beat the most powerful army (English) in the world.
Shortly after the Army of Northern Virginia won a major victory over the Army of the Patomic at the battle of Charlottsville from April 30 – May 6th, he decided to make his move northward. General Robert E Lee’s immediate goal was to acquire urgently needed supplies from the rich farming district of Pennsylvania. General Lees long term goal was to bring the Union Army out into the open in one large battle. With the seventy five thousand strong army, he wanted to show the northern people that he could invade the north with a large army and surround the nations capital. By defeating the northern army on their own grounds, he hoped to bring the population of the north into a panic and settle for peace.
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.
He seized the heights, commanding Boston and its harbor. George forced the British to end the siege, and to sail away north to Nova Scotia. Along with them fled1,100 Loyalist refugees. These people were among the wealthiest families of the colony. Afterwards, North New England and Massachusetts were free of the redcoats for the rest of the war.
New policies such as the Free Soil Appeal angered southerners because it limited the southern power in the federal government and sought to bar slavery in the new western territory. Slavery became very important in the south due to the expansion of farming lands plus an increase in the demand for cotton. This required the need for free labor or slave labor in order for the southerners to be able to afford such vast expansions. When considering all of the factors that caused the civil war Lincoln is only responsible for that cause in the event that he was elected President. There were many other causes that steered the country into a civil war including the fight between slave holding and non-slave states, the dispute between state versus federal rights, and economical and social differences between the two divisions none of which were Lincoln’s fault.
The battle of Gettysburg was one of the turning points of the Civil War in America. Before the battle occured the Army of Northern Virginia had won most of the major campaigns in the eastern theatre of war, including the first Battle of Bull Run , The Peninsula Campaign, a stalemate at Antietam, Second Manassas, Fredricksburg and finally Chancellorsville two months prior to the Gettysburg Campaign. After the loss of the battle Confederate hopes began to dissipate on European intervention, winning the war on the battlefield and becoming a self-governed nation. Never again would General Lee attempt and invasion of the north. With the victory of Gettysburg the Union Army of The Potomac gained great confidence in their ability to fight and quell the southern states rebellion by force.
One problem was the harsh winter that continued to make his fighting force dwindle in the number of abled bodied men. Another was that many of the men’s enlistments in the Army were about to end, and many would be leaving at the end of December. Not only had all this happened, but just across the Delaware River the British General Howe with ten thousand soldiers quartered within the city. (The Battle of Trenton) Not only did Washington have to worry about the British troops nearby, but all the hired Hessian garrison of mercenaries who stood guard on the river, numbering around fifteen hundred men. (Stephenson 1) The situation looked bleak for not only Washington and his men, but for the rebellion as a whole.
Slavery in America’s South : Implications and Effects The institution of slavery in America’s southern states was based primarily in economics rather than some inherent adoration of the practice itself. When the Mason-Dixon line was created in the 1760s, Eli Whitney’s revolutionary cotton gin (which would eventually solidify slavery in the South) has not yet been created. Still, despite this fact, there were lines being drawn between the more industrial-based economy of the North and the agricultural economy of the South. Slavery formed the backbone of the South economically and as it became more widespread after Whitney’s invention, it became just as much the political and social basis of Southern identity as well. Although there are cases
John Gunn HST 367 September 35, 2012 The North and South: Too Far Apart to Avoid War Although the Civil War was not originally fought to save or destroy the institution of slavery, the deep seeded tension between the slave and free states created over this topic of slavery made such a war inevitable. There were many factors that contributed to tensions which started the American Civil War however the most important of those factors was the institution of slavery. The American Civil War was inevitable due to the schisms ingrained within the nation that were created through fundamental differences in ideas and policies mostly concerning slavery and its expansion, People in the North and the South felt very differently about the topic
The Civil War began as a conflict regarding states’ rights. The South argued that the Federal Government’s powers were limited by the Constitution. Southerners also believed the Federal Government abused its powers. According to the South, slavery was a state issue, not an issue to be decided by the Federal Government. The Northern view of America before the Civil War was one of progress.