Once the ironclads were finally built and able to be used in the war, many problems with the ship’s production began to appear. The Confederacy, still suffering from the time lost waiting on their deal with Europe, rushed their production of ironclads which resulted in deficient machinery and haphazard design; the Confederacy’s domestically built ironclads were generally not seaworthy enough to operate in coastal waters, much less on “blue water.” The Confederates had originally hoped that the ironclad would be able to defend its coastline from a blockade and also be able to defend forts alongside their rivers, however, the rush in production caused a lackluster The ironclad’s problems soon began to plague the Union as well. The question of who would command and use the ironclads became problematic after no true consensus was created. The crews that arrived consisted of landsmen, steamboat hands, soldiers, and…
When Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, the new Confederacy viewed Pensacola’s naval shipyard and railroad unavailable to the southern causes…
Several southern states formed the Confederate States of America as a rival nation in response of the attempt to set slaves free, which led to the American Civil War between the North and South. After years of turmoil, the North eventually defeated the South when the Confederate forces surrendered on April 9, 1865. This war was a period of unrest and division in America, but Abraham Lincoln was able to lead the country back into unity with his…
March 9, 1917 - Jan. 8, 2001. John Samuel Ezell was born in Louisville, Kentucky March 9, 1917. He was educated at Wake Forest College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and at Harvard University, where he earned his Ph.D. in history in 1947. He served in the United States Naval Reserve forces during World War II, seeing combat as a Deck Officer on various ships in the Atlantic and Pacific, including serving as Captain of the minesweeper YMS 8. He was also a Beach master for the planned invasion of Japan. At the end of the war, he was made Historical Officer for the Third Fleet, for which he wrote the logistical history. He was made a David Ross Boyd Professor (1965) and he received numerous teaching awards, the Superior Teaching Award (1954), the Newby Teaching Award (1963), and the University of Oklahoma Student Association Teaching and Service Award (1986). During his academic career, he was actively engaged in re search, writing, and publishing on topics dealing with the social and cultural history of the American South and…
During the Civil War, ports were extremely important for the survival of the South. The South had an agricultural economy and since they were growing cotton instead of food, the ports helped them to receive the other goods necessary to live. The North realized this and would slowly choke the South’s waterways, blocking the ports using the Anaconda Plan by General-in-chief Winfield Scott. However, Wilmington’s port would remain open…
To start off the war, the Confederacy barely even had a navy. At first, all that the South’s navy had to do, was to break through the iron grip of the Union blockade. However, attempting to run the blockade was risky, and required very fast ships to slip through with essential supplies. As the war dragged on, the northern blockade began to take its toll on the Southern economy (The Navies of the Civil War). The, now dangerous, blockade caused a food shortage in the poorer regions of the South. However, the Confederate Navy didn’t have the numbers necessary to destroy the blockade.…
The economies of several northern states, including Chicago, were quickly industrializing, unlike the south, which remained committed to its agrarian economy. Long-standing differences in opinion about the issues of states versus federal authority, slavery and states’ rights prompted the southern states to secede from the rest of the country. These states formed the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) in 1861. That same year, the Confederate army attacked Fort Sumter in the North. These aggressions prompted President Abraham Lincoln to enter what became the American Civil War in 1861.…
One of the North's first acts at the outset of the Civil War was the attempt to force the Confederacy into submission by blockading its ports. The objective was to deny the South access to supplies and to shut down its export of cotton to England - its major source of revenue. To counter this threat, the Confederacy began to build a fleet of ships clothed in iron panels that made them impervious to enemy cannon fire. Armed with an underwater ram, these ships were designed to slam into and sink the enemy's wooden vessels.…
Under General Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan, the Union formed a naval blockade in 1861 in an attempt to deplete Confederate resources, block the importation of weapons, and prevent cotton from leaving southern ports. The people of the South saw the blockade as an opportunity for Europeans to officially declare their loyalty in order to maintain trade connections. Because of Confederate military failures and the South’s connection to slavery, European powers never recognized the legitimacy of the Confederacy.…
On April 12, 1861, the Civil War began and it ended on May 9, 1865. The Union states were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Wisconsin, New York, Ohio, Oregon, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Kansas, and Kentucky. The CSA (Confederate States of America) were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The Confederacy seceded from the Union due to grievances such as states rights and slavery. The Union wanted the Confederacy to stay in union.…
Lincoln knew that to keep the European influence out of the American Civil War, the Union needed to look competent to foreign entities by stopping the southern rebellion. Unfortunately, this didn’t start well when the Union suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Bull Run in 1861, causing Lincoln to feel a sense of “humility” and “embarrassment” towards European nations (Peraino, 2013). As a recommendation from the military, Secretary of State, Henry Seward, and Lincoln approved the Anaconda Plan, blocking southern U.S. ports to prevent foreign trade. Around that time, Lincoln signed a bill that “actively pushed for innovations in the navy… to develop a fleet of ironclads” due to the fact that the blockade was a “life and limb” that must…
Nevertheless, in 1861 most Southerners thought that the Confederacy was favourite to win the war. The Confederacy’s sheer size – 750,000 square miles – was a major asset, making if difficult to blockade, occupy and conquer. Confederate forces did not have to invade the North: they simply needed to defend. The fire-power of the rifle-musket meant that battlefield tactics now favoured the defender. The Union, having no option but to attack, was bound to suffer heavy casualties. Southerners hoped that Northern opinion might come to question high losses. If Northern will collapsed, the Confederacy would win by default. Geography gave the Confederacy an important strategic advantage. In the crucial theatre of the war – North Virginia – a series of rivers provided a barrier to Union armies intent on capturing Richmond, the Confederate capital. Slavery, which might seem to be a Confederate weakness,…
The North was able to blockage the South from getting supplies from Europe, which would have been the only way for South to compare with North industry, also the North control the merchant marines. The North had a better economic then the…
Compare and contrast economic, social, and political developments in the North and South between 1800-1860. How do you account for the divergence between the two sections?…
The aim of the union was to defeat the confederate army of Northern Virginias and safeguard Washington. After horrid losses by the component, the army were determined to besiege both cities, the army forced their evacuation and Lees retreat. Mission wise, Confederates had an advantage as they had already occupied 75,000s square miles which made it difficult for the Union to Blockade, inhabit and defeat. The confederates did not require attacking the North but just guard thus the Union was left with no choice but to attack. Equipment-…