Civil War Dbq Essay

During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.

The civil war was a battle between the union and the confederacy to preserve the union. The war took 4 years for the north to win, and near the end of the war, the north was also fighting to end slavery. The north won the war because they had more resources, better strategies, and better transportation.

For example, “Northern industries [included] weapons manufacturing, leather goods, iron production, textiles [which] grew and improved as the war progressed” (Arrington, Industry and Economy during the Civil War). In addition to weaponry and wartime goods, the North also had many factories involving the construction of “farm-machinery, food-processing, machine-tool, and railroad equipment…” (Arrington, Industry and Economy during the Civil War). The South had very little food, as most of the crops grown in the South were cotton, tobacco, and rice. All these products the North produced were extremely necessary in order to ensure their victory. However, the South was not so lucky. The South did not have everything the North had, and what it did have was very much smaller in size and production. Another supply system the North had would be their farms and plantations. Surprisingly, the Union trumped the Confederates with their farms. The “[m]echanization of farming allowed a single farmer growing crops such as corn or wheat to plant, harvest, and process much more than was possible when hand and animal power were the only available tools…” (Arrington, Industry and Economy during the Civil

The Civil War that took place in the United States from 1861 to 1865 could have easily swung either way at several points during the conflict. There is however several reasons that the North would emerge victorious from this bloody war that pit brother against brother. Some of the main contributing factors are superior industrial capabilities, more efficient logistical support, greater naval power, and a largely lopsided population in favor of the Union. Also one of the advantages the Union had was that of an experienced government, an advantage that very well might have been one of the greatest contributing factors to their success. There are many reasons factors that lead to the North's victory, and each of these elements in and

When we compare the military leaders of both North and South during the Civil War, it is not hard to see what the differences are. One of the first things that stand out is the numerous number of Northern generals that led the “Army of the Potomac.” Whereas the Confederate generals, at least in the “Army of Northern Virginia” were much more stable in their position. Personalities, ambitions and emotions also played a big part in effective they were in the field, as well as their interactions with other officers.

     The South’s dominating strategy in winning the civil war was attrition. They believed they could wear down the political will of the North if they held out long enough to make the Northerners tired and question value of the means to achieve the ends. Military stalemates, guerilla war tactics and inconclusive battles would help the South achieve this goal. “Confederate armies did not have to invade and conquer the North: they needed only to hold out long enough to force the North to the conclusion that the price of conquering the South and annihilating its armies was too high, as Britain had concluded in 1781 and as the United States concluded…” (Why Did the Confederacy Lose?, pg 117)The South really enjoyed McClellan’s performance in the Southern theatre with his tendency to retreat when he could have won. This was another helpful hand the South would need to cause attrition. In response, Lincoln knew he had to do two things to prevent attrition and win the war more quickly. He needed to fire McClellan, and shift the theme of the war in the view of the North so that it would not lose its thunder. He did this by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and converting the war for unionism into the war for morality. The

The union had way more troops than the confederacy, the union had the support of its immigrants. The confederacy had less troops to fight for their side but the confederate army was much more qualified to fight despite their numbers. The Southern Confederates also had Robert E. Lee as their general for their army. Robert E. Lee was at the top of his class when he graduated from the

Superior manpower (Larger population): The North had a significantly larger population compared to the South. This meant a larger pool from which to draw soldiers, hence a larger army. This was a great advantage because the North suffered a great loss of soldiers during the war, but they were able to recover. This leverage proved beneficial at the battle of Cold Harbor, where Union lost a total of 60,000 troops, more than the Confederates entire army. The North could afford that amount of loss, but the South’s loss of more than 25,000 was one they could not bear. The North also had an established government that helped them raise taxes and thus, money was

An army of soldiers requires an enormous amount of supplies, so one would therefore need to have the means to thereby create those supplies. The North was well industrialized by the time of the Civil War, whereas the South was still highly dependent on slave labor, which hindered their ability to industrialize.4 When it came to producing weapons, uniforms, shoes, preserved food, tools for more effective farming to feed soldiers, the telegraph, and other necessities, the Union was way in the lead. They could not only create these products, but they could produce them in mass amounts in a fraction of the time it originally took to make them.5 The South had a hard time enduring the war because they did not have the factories necessary to produce the quality and mass amount of supplies they needed.

First of all, the North won the Civil War because they won the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle was one of the most crucial in the war. To win this was another step towards victory. The website, "Nps.gov" states, "The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, sometimes referred to as the 'High Water Mark of the Rebellion' resulted not only in Lee's retreat to Virginia, but an end to the hopes of the Confederate States of America for independence" (Nps.gov). The evidence is saying that this loss for the South ended all of their hopes for victory. Since the North won the Battle of Gettysburg they are one step closer to victory, and bringing the Union back together again. The battle took away all the hope from the Southern states. The Northern states won the Civil war because they were able to defeat the Confederate armies at the battle of Gettysburg.

The challenges that the Union and the Confederacy faced during the Civil War were very different. Critical weaknesses that seemed unfit for war, plagued the opposing American forces, and would serve to be a continuous obstacle that would need to be conquered by patriotism of the people, for their opposing views. To allow for both sides to be competitive, the efforts put forth had to mold to the varied needs of the armies by both the civilian population and their militaries. To the people in the south the similarity to the colonists in the Revolutionary War, was assimilated to their separatist cause in the Civil War and would be their drive to compete with the dominating Northern states. This mindset started the Confederacy in the Civil

The Civil War was provoked for several reasons which included industry, slavery, and territorial disputes among the Northern states and Southern states of the newly established United States. The first recorded engagement of war between the North and South is documented to have taken place on April 12th, 1861 at The Battle of Fort Sumter. This was the starting point of a war that would claim over 600,000 American lives in a relatively short span of 4 years.

From the onset of the war, the Union had its obvious advantages. They simply had large amounts of resources of which the South did not. "In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. You are bound to fail" --Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman to a Southern friend. Over 85 percent of the nation's industry and significant material resources were controlled by the North. The North was able to use take power of their economical advantages to produce military supplies, and replace damaged equipment more rapidly than the Confederacy. On top of that, forces for the field could be re-supplied rapidly because

In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.

     When the Civil War finally concluded, thousands of American soldiers died fighting for what they believed in. The Confederate army lost a total of 258,000 soldiers and the Union army lost 360,000 soldiers. The loss of so many people immensely harmed the nation mentally and economically. Almost everybody had a family, relative, or friend that died in the Civil War. Half of the lives lost were farmers in the South, which devastated the South’s economy because these farmers were also consumers for their