Causes Of The Civil War

The Civil war began in 1861. It was a war fought between the South and the North. The south was known as the Confederate and the North as the Union. The cause of the war was, because the south and the north had different views on slavery and state rights. The war ended with The South’s surrender. The Union had several advantages over the South which led to their win in 1865. The first advantage the Union had over the Confederate was numbers. “The Federals were very inferior in numbers” (Paris, 2009, book 4). “The Federals” is referring to the Union army. The Union outnumber the confederate by far. The confederate had a population of about 9 million and 3.5 of that was made up of slaves. The North however had a population of 21 million. This gave the North the impression that it will be a quick and easy war, but they were wrong. They still had to put up a good fight.
The Union had another major advantage which was their industrial capacity.
" Their artillery was far superior to that of the enemy" (Paris, 2018, Book 4) The North's main source of income was through manufacturing industrial products, such as firearms, trains, cloth, boots, and shoes. By 1860, the northern states manufactured 97 percent of the country's firearms (Ushistory.org, 2018). With that being said, this put the confederates at huge disadvantages; yes, they may have already had the firearms, but they need the animation. All the ingredients needed to make gunpowder were imported to the south, so when the Union started the blockade this cause a major problem for the Confederate
states.
The blockade of Confederate ports was another huge advantage for the Union. The then Secretary of State William Henry Seward suggest the blockade, and it was approved by President Abraham Lincoln on April 19th. Around 500 ships guarded the coast from Virginia to South Florida to insure nothing got through to the southerners. This meant that the south was limited to outside supplies. “The vast blockade in which the North held them shackled during the war compelled them at last to make their own soil yield them the necessary means for sustaining life” (Paris, 2009, book 3). The trade in the south dropped 90%. This method worked although many thought that in would not. It lasted from 1961-1965 Although there were a few ships that slipped past the guarding ships, it was mostly small ships that didn’t carry much so the south was still greatly affected, especially by the time the war was over. “It deprived the South of one of her strongest defenses, by rendering invasion easier” (Paris, 2009, Book 3). The blockade effected not only the South, but other countries as well being that they dependent on the trades with the south. The south was hoping that the affected countries like, Britain and France, would side with them, but they remained neutral. While some countries remained Neutral others like Russia and Switzerland sided with the Union.
The support of Russia made the Union stronger. The Russians supported the Union because they had the same enemies at the time. They recognized The Union as the only true power in the United States. Russia did not only speak their support they showed action by sending ships in to help guard the coast. This action from Russia helped keep the coast strong and gave the North more strength if the enemy tried to attack. Switzerland also gave their support. “Leo Schelbert, a retired Swiss-American history professor from the University of Illinois, says some 6,000 Swiss immigrants fought for the north, or Union” (Tim Neville in Oregon, swissinfo.ch, 2011).