The South and the North during the Civil War - Essay Example

American History Introduction The American Civil war was also referred to as “War between s” in the United s. The civil war began from 1861 and ended in 1865. It was started by the Southern slave states after they declared their withdrawal and formed the confederate American states. The states which remained were referred to as the “North” or the “Union”. The war began as a result of slavery being extended into the Western territories and, approximately 600,000 lives were lost as a result of the war. However, foreign powers never intervened. After for four years, three weeks and six days, the war ended, the Confederacy collapsed and, slavery abolished. The American civil War has also been known to be the earliest industrial battles due to the extensive use of railroads, steamships, mass-produced weapons and the telegraph. The mobilization of mines, food supplies, transportation and shipyards all predicted Word War 1. The civil war is known to be the deadliest battle in the United States’ history (Brinkley). Strengths and weaknesses of the South and the North During the civil war, the Northern region had many advantages as compared to the South. They had more people than the South. There were 23 Northern states and, in those states, there were more than 21 million inhabitants. On the other hand, the South only had nine million people and, among those people, there were 3.5 million slaves. However, the size of the Southern army during commence of the war was almost equivalent to that of the Northern army. Another advantage of the North is that it had a large industrial advantage. When the war started, the South was said to have a ninth the industrial capacity of the North. However, the statistics is not true. In 1860, the North went ahead and manufactured 97% of the countries firearms. It also had 96% of railway locomotives, 94% of its pig iron and 94% of its cloth. As a result, the North had two times the density of railroads than the South. The North suppressed the South such that, the entire South did not have even a single rifle works. Therefore, the South had to import all the main ingredients of gunpowder. The North also had another advantage, having control over the navy. This meant that the Northerners had all the control over the seas. As a result of the suppression by the North, the South resulted to creating ammunition by the melting-down of church bells and bells from town squares. On the other hand, the South also had some advantages. The South had food resources and also a large nucleus of trained soldiers. This is because the south had seven among the eight military schools in the United States. However, it faced problems in the transportation of food to the soldiers. Another advantage of the south is the fact that it was fighting a defensive war. Unlike the North, the South was more familiar with all its territories and landscapes. This made it easier for them to harass the Northerners. On the other hand, the objectives of the Northerners were complex and much more difficult to accomplish. One of the objectives of the North was to invade and occupy the South. For it to achieve this, it had to destroy the South’s capacity to fight back. This is a big challenge in any war. On the other hand, the south objective was to maintain its way of life. Slavery became the moral objective of the Union after the annunciation of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 (Schug, Caldwell and Ferrarini 208). The South’s objectives The South was fighting so as to accomplish several goals. These goals included defending Confederate land, preventing the North from destroying the Southern army and breaking the Union’s ability and will. The first objective of the South was easy to achieve. This is because the Southerners were well versed about the landscape and their territories. They also had enough food to satisfy the soldiers despite having poor transportation means. However, the Union was stronger than the Southerners in terms of the number of soldiers, firearms and locomotion. This made it extremely difficult for the Southerners to defend. The Union manufactured 97% of the country’s firearms. This forced the Southerners to import gunpowder. However, the Union had control over the seas, and this made it difficult for the Southerners to import firearms. The Southerners had to use church bells to make cannons. As a result of the strengths of the Union, the Southerners were unable to put up a good defense. The other objective of the South was to prevent the Union from destroying its army. Eight out of the nine military schools in the United States were located in the South. This meant that the military soldiers in the eight military schools were part of the Southern Army. The Southern army was composed of well-trained military soldiers and slaves. However, the Southern army was smaller than the Union’s army. The Southern only chance of winning the American Civil War was by properly using the available military. However, the South failed in the protection of its army. This is because it was faced with the problem of inadequate firearms, railway locomotion and food for the soldiers. In the long-run, the southern army was destroyed by the Union (Faust 86). The South also aimed at destroying the Union’s will. This was one of the most difficult goals for the South to achieve. This is because it did not have the right resources to defend or attack the North. On the other hand, the union had all the equipment it needed to attack the South and defend. It also had the ability to cut off the supply of the South. This is because it had control over the railroads and the seas. Therefore, the south could neither import ammunition nor transport the available ammunition to its territories. Conclusion By the time the civil war ended, the South was completely devastated. This is because 260 soldiers had died and 190,000 others wounded during the war. The Southern economic structure was also destroyed because it was difficult to carry out economic activities during the war. The civil war also destroyed most of the South’s land such as Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia. Many cities such as Atlanta, Richmond, and Charleston were also destroyed. The south also lost its cotton crops as a result of destruction during the war and confiscation by the Union agents. The civil war had several other impacts such as the loss of lives, prohibition of slavery in the United States. By the end of the civil war, federalism won (Keegan 32). Works Cited Brinkley, Alan. American history: a survey. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2011. print. Faust, Drew Gilpin. This republic of suffering: death and the American Civil War. New York: Alfred A, Knopf, 2008. print. Keegan, John. The American Civil War: a military history. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. print. Schug, Mark C., Jean Caldwell and Tawni Hunt Ferrarini. Focus: understanding economics in United States history. New York, NY: National Council on Economic Education, 2006. print. Read More