Civil War:
Advantages and
Disadvantages for North
and South
IB HL Essay Question
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2006
Assess the relative strengths of the North and
the South at the beginning of the United States
Civil War in 1861.
2007
Why, in spite of the advantages of the North
over the South, did the Civil War in the United
States last so long?
Advantages of South
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1. Could fight a defensive war – North would have to
invade, win, and force the South back into the Union.
South just had to tie / draw, not win, to remain an
independent Confederacy - same advantage the US had
over the British in the Revolutionary War
2. War was fought primarily on Southern soil; South
had knowledge of local terrain and the advantage of
local support…food, hiding places, shelter...
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3. The South was almost unanimously unified behind the
cause / enthusiastic (at least at first) - preservation of their
way of life and their economic system. Fighting for
something concrete, tangible, something easy to
understand - to be independent, to be left alone: they had
no aggressive designs on the North
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(Include all those reasons as to why the South was
virtually unanimously united behind the pro-slave position,
even though only 25% owned slaves, and only .5% owned
more than 100 slaves
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Fear of reprisals
Siege Mentality
Competition for jobs
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Ties of Kinship
Social Mobility / Ownership
Force of Race
Legal / Constitutional
Slave Power / “Slaveocracy” / “slaveocrats”?
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4. The South had the best commanders, Robert E Lee
was a great strategist and motivator. (Lincoln had
offered him command of the North’s armies but he
turned it down when his own state of Virginia seceded).
Stonewall Jackson too was a great strategist / tactician,
a master of speed and deception, and inspired his men
by his own bravery on the battlefield
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5. Southern soldiers were mostly from rural backgrounds
and so were experienced with guns and horse-riding: they
generally tended to be better soldiers (their high pitched
“rebel-yell” struck terror).
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6. South adapted, fought a smart campaign, in the early
years - seized federal weapons, ran Union blockades,
developed their own ironworks…to provide sufficient
weaponry
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7. Supported by the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian
Territory: Cherokee (split; and most of Plains Indians
supported Union), Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and
Seminoles: supplied troops to Confederacy…. Another
distraction to Union
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8. Use of commerce-raiders build in Britain (manned by
Britons; neutral?); the Alabama destroyed 64 Union
ships; in all commerce-raiders destroyed more than 250
Yankee ships, severely crippling the American merchant
marine (later, in 1872, Britain settled the Alabama
Claims for $15.5 m, after arbitration)
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(The Laird Rams, two iron clad Confederate war ships,
equipped with larger guns than the commerce raiders,
became an issue, but the British govt. stopped sale of
these to the Confederacy – a big blow to their hopes of
breaking the blockade)
Disadvantages of South
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1. Shortage of supplies - after initial supplies captured
from the North ran out: weapons, shoes, uniforms,
blankets. Lack of supplies became critical when the
North enforced a blockade on the South. By 1863 South
was very low on supplies and morale began to collapse.
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2. Poor transportation system: South did not have a very
extensive system of roads and railroads; had only 10,000
miles of the country's 30,000 - irony was that South had
opposed the “American System” which would have left it
with a more advanced transportation system.
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Even the 10,000 mile statistic is misleading, does not tell the
true story of the South’s railroad inferiority. There were big
gaps between key points in the South, which required
supplies to make detours over long distances or be carried
between rail lines by wagon. Tracks were of different
measurements. There were few trunk lines. Most lines ran
West to East to bring Cotton to the ports. As the war
continued, the Confederate railroad system steadily
deteriorated, and by the last year and a half of the struggle it
had almost collapsed.
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3. The South had a much smaller population than North
- only 11 states with a total population of 9m of which
just under 4m were slaves and thus not involved - so
could draw from the resources of only 5m….no
immigration to bolster numbers
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The army was manned by Volunteers at first, like the
Union armies, but by the beginning of 1862 the
Confederacy was threatened by a manpower crisis and
the government was forced to introduce conscription
which declared that all able bodied white men between
the ages of 18 and 35 had to serve for 3 yrs.
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Well off people could buy exemption for $10,000 or get
exemption if they owned more than 20 slaves, leading
to the claim that “ it was a rich man's war but a poor
man's fight”
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Conscription worked in 1862 - 1863 but by 1864 there
was again a critical manpower shortage.
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In a desperate move, Congress lowered the age limit for
drafted men to 17 and raised it to 50, reaching out it
was said “towards the cradle and the grave”. But the
measure produced few new recruits in a nation now
suffering from intense war weariness and becoming
certain that defeat was inevitable.
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In 1864- 1865 there were 100,000 desertions. In a
frantic final attempt to raise men, Congress in 1865
authorized the drafting of 300,000 slaves. The war
ended before this incongruous experiment could be
attempted.
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Basically the South suffered from a shortage of men /
manpower
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4. The South had serious financial problems: earnings of
Cotton planters declined due to blockade: customs duties
were also cut off by the blockade: the South raised
$400m in bonds, but this was not enough. Taxes were
increased and an additional 10% levy on farm produce but the states rights southerners were reluctant to accept
taxation by a central authority and in most cases refused
to pay – only 1% of total income was raised this way.
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Confederacy had to rely on printing paper currency printed $1b dollars in paper currency, which caused
runaway inflation….(overall rate of inflation in South
was 9,000 % - only 80% in North)
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Also the Confederacy did not establish a uniform
currency system: thus states issued their own notes this caused confusion and a depreciation of the value of
Confederate money and contributed to further inflation.
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Loans expected from abroad never materialized.
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Basically the South suffered from a major shortage of
money
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“The Economy was the greatest Southern weakness..”
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5. Cotton was not as important (King) as South thought
it was. The South thought that England would support it,
to protect the supply of Cotton, but English textile
manufacturers had built up a sizeable surplus (, so the
British were not inclined to intervene for this reason).
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When the surplus ran out, the British were supplied from
new sources such as India and Egypt.
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Yet the British textile industry was not unaffected by loss
of Southern Cotton; 500,000 workers became
unemployed as a result of factories closing down due to
the shortage of Cotton: But these workers still did not
support running the blockade or fighting with the
Confederacy
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The English ruling class may have wanted to support the
Confederacy, but the English working classes would not
contemplate such action, thanks to Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
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They were also, later, influenced by Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation, which turned the war into
a moral crusade.
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6. Lack of Diplomatic efforts / Incompetent Diplomacy
No overseas / foreign help, from Britain or France,
except unofficial help from British shipbuilders
(Commerce Raiders) : the South was over confident that
it would get foreign support because “Cotton was King”
and so did not make a great enough effort to appeal for
financial and military support from abroad.
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7. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was:
“flawed and blinkered both as man and as statesman,
with huge weaknesses of judgment and capacity.”
(Johnson) “He lacked imagination, compounded by
ignorance.” He did not provide effective, inspirational
leadership, spending most of his time on routine items /
details, on legal and constitutional matters which were
irrelevant to the task of ensuring the survival of a new
nation.
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He was short-tempered, and dictatorial, constantly
quarrelling with the Confederate Congress, vetoing 38
of their Bills (they re-passed 37 of these)…threatened
with impeachment…he was imperious, “inclined to
defy rather than lead public opinion”
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He was bitter and bore grievances. His military and
cabinet appointments were former comrades or friends
who were mostly incompetent.
He chose the wrong strategy – tried to defend every
inch of the border and coastline, spreading Confederate
troops too thin, rather than concentrating his forces in
fewer areas. He employed about one third of his troops
in non-combative defense duties when his commanders
were clamoring desperately for more men
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8. The South’s political system left it weak: it adopted a
loose confederate system - like the former Articles of
Confederation - with strong states and a weak federal
government.
States put their own interests first: each state raised its own
forces, often decided on when and where to use them,
sometimes refusing to fight under commanders from other
states, or serve outside their own borders: some states
seemed ready to quickly secede from the Confederacy
(Georgia) if they did not get their way…
Irony - states rights, which the South had promoted over a
long period of time, damaged the Confederacy’s chances of
winning
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Focus on state control also caused problems with
supplies, finance, as well as manpower. Often it was
“every state for itself.” The South was “a martyr to its
own ideology of states rights.”
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9. Internal Conflict and Jealousies: Virginia / Virginians
disliked the “less polished, more vulgar, extreme
Southern Carolinians,” who began to dominate the
Congress. They despised Davis. To appease Virginia the
capital was moved from Montgomery to
Richmond…..thereafter described as “a snake-pit of
bitter social and political feuds.”
Advantages of North
1.
Superior Economy - produced its own food and was the
nation’s industrial center. Greater resources when the
country started to mobilize for war. Produced almost all of
its own war materials after 1862. The Northern economy
expanded during the war, while the South’s shrank.
During the war years the North-South ratio was
10: 1
38: 1
412: 1
14: 1
2.4: 1
1.8: 1
in factory production
in coal
in wheat production
in textiles
in railroad mileage
in draft animals
15: 1
32: 1
2: 1
25: 1
3: 1
1.5: 1
in iron
in firearm production
in corn production
in ship tonnage
in farm acreage
in livestock
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Huge expansion in industry in North during war:
demand, new machines (sewing machine), protective
tariffs – produced new millionaire class…speculators
and graft…sold shoddy goods to army (aged and blind
horses, uniforms with shoddy wool, shoes with
cardboard soles)
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The only commodity the South was ahead in was cotton
- 24: 1, but this advantage was negated by previous
overproduction and by stockpiling by the North (as
with Britain) of Southern cotton as the war approached
2. Access to finance;
– excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol:
income tax was introduced for the first time, 3% on
incomes above $800. later increased to 5% on
incomes between $600 and $5000 and 10% on
incomes above $5000:
Tariffs were increased by between 5-10% through the
Morrill Tariff Act of 1861 (from the low Tariff of
1857 – 20%).
$2.6b raised through selling bonds, marketed through
the private house of Jay Cooke and Company:
Increases of $450m in paper money / greenbacks (but
inadequately supported by gold, so value fluctuated
depending on nation’s credit and fortunes of war)
3. The National Bank Act, 1863, recreated a national
banking system, and regulated banks / currency. Banks
had to have a minimum amount of capital, and had to
invest one third of that capital in govt. bonds and
securities. Eliminated the chaos and uncertainty in the
country's banking system. The resulting economic
stability and direction contributed to the war effort
(first attempt to unifying banking since Jackson
“killed” the BUS in 1836)...system functioned until
Federal Reserve Act of 1913
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Before, legislation concerning Tariffs, Banking, was
defeated by the South – now they were not there to
veto
4. Superior transportation system - 20,000 + mile network
of railroads. Also more and better means of inland
water transportation (steamboats and barges) more
surfaced roads, more wagons.
5. The Federal army and navy became the Union army
and Navy – just like the Federal Congress was the
Union Congress - smooth transition. Through the navy
the North controlled the seas and was able to blockade
Southern ports (occasional trouble from Commerce
Raiders, such as the Alabama, and the ironclad
Merrimack)
It was also able to exchange wheat and corn for arms
and ammunition from European countries.
6. North had 23 states with a pop of 22 million, which
was increasing every year by the arrival of immigrants.
Just under 1m arrived during the Civil War years alone,
1861-1865. 400,000 of these enlisted in the Union
armies, the rest worked in industry. 1.6m men served
in the Union armies (total during war), including
180,000 African Americans (either free before war or
freed during war). The North-South ratio in free males
aged 18 to 60 was 4.4: 1. (yet had to introduce
conscription in 1863)
7. Border States / Slave states: Missouri, Kentucky,
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia – sources of
industry, transportation (Ohio River) and contributed
300,000 troops to the Union
8. In Lincoln the North had a charismatic, decisive leader
who did what was necessary to win the war. Regarded as
a great war President / Commander in Chief. He was a
keen strategist often showing greater insight than his
generals. He maximized the North’s strength’s and
resources.
He took it upon himself to formulate policy, devised strategy, and
even directed tactical movement Urged his generals to
- keep up constant pressure on the whole defensive line of the
Confederacy until a week spot could be found and a breakthrough
could be made.
- At an early date he realized that the main objective of his armies
was the destruction of the Confederate armies and not the
occupation of Southern territory.
Acted swiftly / decisively, taking arbitrary powers, while
Congress was not in session – it later approved of most of
his measures: set aside Constitution or took on powers of
Congress:
- introduced a blockade
- increased the size of the Army
- suspended Habeas Corpus
- supervised ballot in border states (colored ballots
indicating party, somewhat illegal)
- suspended newspapers and arrested editors on
ground of obstructing war
9. King Wheat and King Corn helped enormously – due to
bad harvests, British bought huge quantities of grain
from the North: If they had broken the blockade to get
Cotton, they would have provoked the North to war and
lost the precious grain supplies
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In a nutshell…the North enjoyed the prestige of a longestablished government, financial stability, was fully
recognized both at home and abroad….and Lincoln
proved superior to the Davis..
Disadvantages of North
1. Weak commanders compared to South:
Gen Winfield Scott: unable to cope with the strategies
needed for a large-scale war.
George McClellan: always slow to advance, complained
of lack of men, supplies, artillery. Replaced Scott. Proud
and arrogant refused to follow orders. Could have
destroyed main Confederate after Antietam if he had
followed up his initial success.
Replaced him with Gen Henry Halleck: also proved to
be unable to implement Lincoln’s strategy.
Lincoln was forced to form and direct military strategy
by himself. He eventually found the North’s great
general in Ulysses S. Grant (found good generals
through trial and error).
Grant could think of the war in overall terms and devise
strategy for the war as a whole. Like Lincoln he favored
a hard relentless pursuit of the enemy, not the old
concept of war as chessboard maneuvers conducted in
leisurely fashion. Lincoln trusted him and gave him a
relatively free hand. However Grant always consulted
him on major decisions. Meade and Sherman also
proved to be capable generals.
2. Had to win the war outright, had to conquer the South
and reduce it to subjugation, to obedience to federal
law. A tie would not be sufficient. Had to take the
offensive. The South had only to stave off defeat.
3. Fighting on enemy territory. Had to maintain long lines
of communication, deal with hostile local population,
and rely on the South's inadequate system of
transportation.
4.
North not fully united behind the war effort.
The war was opposed by the Peace Democrats (as opposed to
War Democrats) who wanted to end the fighting and hold a
national convention to amend the Constitution in ways that wd
satisfy the South.
It was opposed by the Copperheads - extremist opponents (after
poisonous snake) who actively opposed / obstructed the war and
esp. the draft (Vallandigham)..
Opposition to Draft from workers (esp. Irish Immigrants) –
several riots, esp. in NY – anger with $300 exemption
Deserters – total of 200,000 – inc. Bounty Boys / Jumpers
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5. Having to be careful to appease the precarious
 Border States (Slave states): Missouri, Kentucky,
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia – sources of industry,
Ohio River: would have seceded if North had fired the
first shots: Lincoln used persuasion and martial law
(Maryland, Missouri, West V): Lincoln had to insist that
the war was to save the Union, not to end slavery – didn’t
want to drive these states into Confederacy
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Butternut Regions (southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois:
areas settled largely by Southerners who had carried their
racial prejudices with them: area was a “hotbed of proSouthern sentiment throughout the war.” Again, to ensure
their loyalty Lincoln insisted that his paramount purpose
in the war was to save the Union
Casualties and Costs
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600,000 died in action or of disease
1m killed or seriously wounded
$15 billion