advantages and disadvantages of the civil war

In 1861, when the Civil War broke out, the Confederacy and the Union both had numerous advantages and disadvantages and there were multiple women and slaves that contributed to the war. To begin with, the Confederacy had its significant advantages that helped it push through the war, one of which was its strong leaders. Many believed “Stonewall” Jackson and Robert E. Lee were some of the best officers even before the war. Also, they had the advantage of fighting on their own soil. They knew the terrain better that of their counterparts. A psychological aspect could be that fighting for their land, for their families, could have been the driving force or motivation. Moreover, they have longer coast lines which increased the travel time and decreased the chances of blockade or capturing of ports and major cities. On the other hand, the Confederacy did have several disadvantages as well. First, they were not recognized by Europe at all which limited their foreign aid. The Confederacy also had minimal factory production and industry. At the beginning of the war, the Confederacy had only one-ninth the industrial capacity of the Union. But that statistic was misleading. In 1860, the North manufactured 97 percent of the country 's firearms, 96 percent of its railroad locomotives, 94 percent of its cloth, 93 percent of its pig iron, and over 90 percent of its boots and shoes. There was not even one rifleworks in the entire South. The railroad system that the Union had was far more sophisticated than that of the Confederacy, having over ten thousand more miles of railroad tracks that were, in itself, more modern. Due to the large amounts of manufacturing businesses and the railroad system to move the products, the Union, unlike the Confederacy, could produce and ship weapons, clothing, and food at a much more efficient rate than their counterparts. Also, because they were a newly founded "sovereign state", the Confederacy did not have a professional, organized