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…
In Why the North Won the Civil War, Henry Steele Commager believed that there were multiple causes that led the confederacy to their defeat and that it was “an inevitability in history.” While many historians believed the North won due to their economic, military, diplomatic, and social aspects, Richard N. Current stated that the Union won the Civil War due to their “fundamental economic superiority.” He believed the North sustained a vast and overwhelming economic superiority in men and materials, giving them “an advantage of almost five to two” in everything. The Union succeeded because they were productive with their economy, unlike the Confederates.…
Historians have argued inconclusively for years over the prime reason for Confederate defeat in the Civil War. The book Why the North Won the Civil War outlines five of the most agreed upon causes of Southern defeat, each written by a highly esteemed American historian. The author of each essay does acknowledge and discuss the views of the other authors. However, each author also goes on to explain their botheration and disagreement with their opposition. The purpose of this essay is to summarize each of the five arguments presented by Richard N. Current, T. Harry Williams, Norman A. Graebner, David Herbert Donald, and David M. Potter. Each author gives his insight on one of the following five reasons: economic, military, diplomatic, social, and political, respectively.…
South Carolina was the first state to request to leave the union. Consequently, more southern states followed their act within the next weeks to come. The southern states did not wish to be part of a country in which they had no authority. The deep south came together to form the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln tried to compromise…
During the battle, both Union and Confederate suffered major casualties. Many Confederate soldiers had died not just in the battle itself. The Unions had suffered the most pain in this way. In just one hour, about 7 thousand men had died and overall they lost 50 thousand men out of 117,000. The Confederates losses were much less severe; they only lost about 1,500 to 60,000…
Following Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency in 1860, Southern states began seceding from the Union. Though personally opposed to slavery and convinced the United States was going to have to be all free or all slave states—"a house divided against itself cannot stand"—he repeatedly said he would not…
President Abraham Lincoln did not believe that the south could legally secede from union because the states could not get rid of a government they made without collapsing anarchy. Lincoln called the Union a “contract” (Lincoln 2) between the states and the contract could not be dissolved without the consent of all the states. Since the North did not believe the southern slave states had ample reason to secede, all the states were not in accord, so the “contract” (Lincoln 2) was still valid. If the legal matter was not reason enough against secession, the resulting anarchy from a new government should have been a deterrent. The federal government was not able to please everyone, but no government would be able to please everyone. If the new southern government could form on basis of pleasing everyone, it would dissolve into chaos. The new government would be mob rule and it would encourage other factions to break off from the union if they became dissatisfied. It would plunge both countries into a mad power scramble and it could not be allowed even if it was legal, which it was…
In the Civil War times the Union and Confederates had some large disadvantages and advantages. The Union has a bigger population and 12 more states than the Confederates . That all helps with the amount of soldiers they had to keep fighting. According to ushistory.org, “The North had an enormous industrial advantage as well.” Then they have a lot of supplies to make it through the battle.…
The Union and Confederate armies fought against each other in the Civil War. This essay is about comparing and contrasting the Union Army and the Confederate Army. The better well supplied Union Army had more factories and soldiers against the Confederate Army who wasn’t as well supplied.…
The Union consisted of twenty-three northern states like, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and several others. Their president was Abraham Lincoln. In most areas the north was ahead of the south. For starters, it consisted of more people in general, and because it had more states, therefore it had more people enlisted in the military. The Union was more advanced when it came to the industrial and agricultural aspects.…
The Daily Lives of Soldiers: The Union vs. Confederacy In 1861 the civil war raged out across the country. It continued until 1865. As the southern states (Confederates) tried to succeed from the northern states (Union), they realized that the North had it much better. The Union had many more people, much more money, and more of pretty much everything.…
As children are taught in grade school, the Civil War happened because the North wanted to outlaw slavery, and the South did not. The newly elected Republican Party had thwarted the spread of slavery; however, the South was still very dependent on it due to their labor intensive crops. The United States was not united, but rather a divided country. The 1860 Presidential election, in which Lincoln won, triggered the start of states seceding. By the time Lincoln took office in March of 1861 seven states had seceded from the union (). The eyes of the world were on America as the Civil War was played out; both sides, the North and South, appealed to the world. In the North, Lincoln says that this “embraces more than the date of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man, the question, whether a constitutional republic or democracy . . . can, or cannot maintain its territorial integrity” (Lincoln). The Struggle, was for “a vast future,” (Lincoln) a struggle to give all men “a fair chance in the race of life” (Lincoln).…
All throughout the southern United States of America, cries of secession rang out as the South readied itself to leave its place in the United States. The country split as the South began to leave the nation, state by state, one by one. Standing separately, the two nations, the United States of America and the newly formed Confederate States of America, prepared for war. The Civil War began due to a structural failure of the Constitution which caused for several differences to form between the North and South, eventually leading to the South’s secession from the Union.…
Both sides believed that they were tasked with the protection of the ideals championed by the founding fathers that they so revered, and both claimed that they were fighting for the exact same principles. The Confederates believed that they were struggling to free themselves from the control of the bloated and ineffective Union government, while the Union believed that they were fighting to keep their country a stable and united front. The south justified their rebellion against the “tyrannical” Union by comparing it to America’s endeavor for independence from England, looking to their predecessors for strength and inspiration. They also believed that their loss would result in the subjugation of the south, and the destruction of all the institutions they held dear, such as slavery and aggressive white supremacy. In their eyes, the Union was trying to force racial integration and equality, and they decided that they would rather die than ever live in a world where black and white people are seen as…
When Lincoln was elected into office the country was divided into the North and South. However, the South became even more alienated when Lincoln was elected President because of his opposition to slavery and his pursuance of its abolishment. As a result of his win, several states succeeded from the Union to join forces and create the Confederacy which then only led the hostility to grow even more. The Confederates took the first shot that really began the Civil War with the attack was at Fort Sumter in April of 1861, which led Lincoln to respond with a call to military action - more Southern states succeeded.…