Union Victory of the Civil War Essay Example for Free

Union Victory of the Civil War Essay Even before the Civil War actually started, the North had already enjoyed two distinct advantages over the South. Although it also benefited from some excellent strategic decisions as the war progressed, those two pre-war factors ultimately spelled defeat for the army of the secessionists from the south. The first of these advantages was the North’s edge in population. While the southern states only had a combined population of 9 million people (including their slaves), the population of the north was 22 million (including some emancipated slaves). That ratio of 2. 44:1 later proved decisive since the North possessed the capacity of raising and fielding more fighting men to sustain its war effort (Murphy, 2008). The second factor was the difference in their economic thrusts. Whereas the North concentrated on industry and commerce to boost its economy, the South relied on an agricultural economy. In other words, the North had industrial plants while the South could only boast of its farms. The superiority of the North’s economic development became apparent when the war dragged on. It was able to convert its factories to war materials production to support its army in the field while the South had to rely on its foreign trading partners for the replenishment of its war chest. Now, since the North had a stronger navy than the South, it was able to rule the seas and managed to organize an effective blockade, thereby preventing the South from procuring war supplies from other countries. The effect was a weakened southern army due to a depleted supply. These were the two primary reasons that gave rise to the observation that the South was doomed from the start (Murphy, 2008). Some observers believed that these advantages which the North enjoyed at the outset were initially offset by two factors which worked in favor of the South. The first was the fact that the Confederate Army was commanded by better military leaders. Before the Civil War broke out, majority of the finest and more senior commanders in the United States military came from the South. This was because of a southern culture which prized a military career for their men. Because of this culture, it had been customary for rich families to send their sons to the West Point Military Academy which was located in the North and start their career in the military. As soon as the secession was announced by the southern states, many of them resigned from their posts to serve with the Confederate Army. Some of these officers were Generals Robert E. Lee, Thomas â€Å"Stonewall† Jackson, Albert Sidney Johnston, James Longstreet, P. G. T. Beauregard, and Joseph E. Johnston. Most of them held more senior ranks in the United States Army compared to majority of the officers who remained with the Union Army of the North (EDSITEment, n. d. ). The second advantage of the South, according to observers, was the theater of operations and the character of the war itself. Since the Union Army invaded the South, the war was fought on southern territory. This means that the Confederate soldiers had the advantage of knowing the terrain better than the enemy who had to fight in unknown territory. It follows, therefore, that the soldiers of the Confederacy were more mobile and flexible. There was also the fact that for the Southerners, the war was defensive in character. War strategists believe that victory is easily achieved in a defensive war since the defenders have only to defend their ground and wear the invaders down. The North had the more difficult task of occupying the South and forcing them to surrender (EDSITEment, n. d. ). In addition, the Confederate soldiers were more passionate and more desperate for victory. They were defending their soil, their institutions, and most of all, their families. Someone said that When you believe that you are defending your wife and children from invaders, you care more about your cause than those who are simply being paid a wage to go fight for a cause that does not influence their lives as directly. This made a significant difference on the battlefield (Murphy, 2008). The soldiers of the Confederate Army, therefore, enjoyed a higher morale on top of their superiority as far as mastery of the topography of the areas where the war was fought was concerned. Unfortunately, these were not enough for them to win a protracted war. In fact their â€Å"home court† advantage was believed to have worked against them as the war progressed. For every successful thrust on the part of the Union soldiers which resulted to the capture of a piece of Southern territory, the adverse effect on the morale of Confederate soldiers had been substantial. This was particularly apparent when the Union Army succeeded in capturing an area situated between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains and when the Confederate Army was effectively cut off from their important industrial and agricultural resources as a result of successful campaigns waged by the Union Army in the central and western regions of Tennessee (EDSITEment, n. d. ). The South was likewise believed to have acted based on a false assumption which contributed greatly to their defeat. This false assumption was echoed by South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond in 1858 when he said that the South was in such a valued station that no country would even think of declaring war against it. Specifically, he declared that â€Å"The world was so dependent on cotton that Southerners could coerce any foreign country into coming to their aid merely by threatening not to sell it† (EDSITEment, n. d. ). Indeed, if Great Britain, who was a major consumer of the South’s cotton, sided with the Confederacy, the war could have ended differently. The South was so confident in their hold of the world cotton market that when the blockade was declared by Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, who was then acting as President of the Confederacy, did not do anything about it. He was certain that when the countries in Europe would be starved of cotton, they would voluntarily send their navies to destroy the blockade set up by the North, declaring war against the Union in the process. Unfortunately, this was not what happened. Instead, the European countries merely turned to Egypt and India for their cotton requirements, dealing a hard blow to the economy of the South (Newton, Poulter, Simon, Symonds, and Woodworth, 2005). In the end, the great military commanders of the Confederate Army could not do anything with a depleted army and were forced to surrender. The destruction of the economy of the South proved to be the most decisive factor in the Civil War (Murphy, 2008). References EDSITEment. (n. d. ). On the Eve of War: North vs. South. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://edsitement. neh. gov/printable_lesson_plan. asp? id=745 Murphy, A. (2008). Strengths Weaknesses of the North and South During the Civil War. Retrieved April 28, 2008 from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/532303/strengths_weaknesses_of_the_north and. html Newton, S. H. , Poulter, K. , Simon, J. Y. , Symonds, C. L. , and Woodworth, S. E. (2005).