Preview

Why Was The American Civil War Inevitable

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
973 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Was The American Civil War Inevitable
The American Civil War, a bloody and brutal conflict that claimed the lives of over 600,000 individuals. The war was fought between the Union and Confederacy, also known as the North and the South. It is considered by many to be a turning point within American history because it ended the issues of rights and slavery in the U.S. And while the war was also believed to be inevitable, the outcome certainly was not. Many factors such as Confederate strategy, lack of morale, and the outcome of the of the 1864 election could have tilted the scale to the South’s favor. During the long and hard-fought Civil War, Union victory was not inevitable. Strategy and tactics have been known to go hand in hand with warfare. The key to winning any war revolves around the decisions made by leaders before and during battle. The strategies of the Union took this to heart as they were well planned out and fairly complex to ensure victory. The Confederacy on the other hand did not need to win, they just had to not lose. Their plan was simple and had only 3 main points, defend Southern land, prevent the North from destroying the confederate army, and to break the opposing army’s will to fight. In retrospect, the confederate end goal was achievable and quite possibly could have been a reality. That is if …show more content…
The armies of both the North and the South had suffered tremendous losses that shook the nation as a whole. That being said, the consequences of inadequate strategy, diminished morale , and the re-election of a president who opposed slavery, were all factors that changed the tide of the American Civil War. Like all wars in history this one could have ended either way had the circumstances been a little different, the United States as we know it may have been completely different. No war victory is achieved right from the start, just like life itself, the end result is decided by the individuals who shape

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Northern armies reigned victorious, and the rebelling states were returned to the Union. Since the start of the war, the Union devised a strategy. They planned to blockade the South and drive on the Confederate capital. Even though organizing it took about four years, it was the single strategy that won the war. Lincoln and Grant cooperated well.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 1300 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The changes in the war aims by President Abraham Lincoln were very important in winning the war. First and foremost when the war began it was entirely based on re-uniting the country which most people in the North were not so much contented with given the fact that their children were dying in large numbers. However, when Abraham Lincoln shifted the rationale towards fighting for democracy through the abolition of slave trade which the confederate states wanted so much to preserve. This increased morale among the soldiers and the people in the north since they believed that democracy and freedom was worse fighting for. This helped the Union to defeat the confederate state which did not provide a strong rationale to its armies and the people…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, as it turned out, the North had emerged from battle as victorious. Although the South seemed to have a decent chance to win at first, the military, economic, and political factors did not give the South a chance in winning. The south had many military disadvantages that hurt their chances in winning the Civil War. Their plan was to fight defensive battles, which sounds like it would work at first.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Civil war, which began in 1861, came to an end on May 13th,1865, and the Union claimed the victory. But the South were victorious in many of the earlier battles of the war, but at first they had a strong military leadership. The South’s defeat was due to poor strategy in the military and the appointment of weak generals, many people also believe that political leadership, foreign support, the supply of the army and war economics were reasons they didn’t win.…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The North took victory in the civil war against the South. The North had several of advantages when it came to defeating the other side.The blockade. As the war progressed the blockade of Southern ports slowly became more effective, closing the ports and thus cutting off the vital supplies needed to fight the war. This includes medicine. The South had to rely on Europe even more so than the North for supplies with which to fight the war so by eliminating more and more ports into which the supplies could come into the Confederacy the North slowly deprived the South of it's ability to properly fight. By the end of the war many Confederate soldiers didn't have the ammo, food, or even effective weapons required to campaign with. Attrition. The Union had more men…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The loss of the South in the Civil War was the result of various contributions. First of all, they were underequipped in artillery and production factories. The South’s population was about one fourth of the North’s excluding slaves. They were not united and lost because their own philosophical beliefs that destroyed them. Further, the South was underequipped and outclassed in everything industrially. They’re only hope of taking a military advantage was support from European countries. However, those connections were cut when the North blockaded the South and when the North incited the European public to support the North’s effort preventing European interference. Although there was a high morale to serving the Confederacy and to destroying the Union cause, they didn’t have the materials to do so. Many would just fight with stones or any primitive makeshift weapon they could use when they were depleted of bullets because of their low artillery production. The South also had much less supply lines. Their railroads were half that of the North’s and became less as the North decimated the South’s rail lines. The North figured that it would be wiser to destroy their supply lines and weaken the troops. However destroying food lines wouldn’t be a problem because the South couldn’t even supply food because as men were drafted into the army, the agricultural farms withered away due to lack of maintenance. Another disadvantage would be the size of the South. The ratio of people of South to North was about 3 to 7. However 3.5 million of those Southern people were slaves, so the actual ratio would be about 1 to 4. Considering the North’s territorial advantage over the South, it is impressive to see that the South could sustain such a defense over the four years of the war. The reason could be that the South had better trained generals such as…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The American civil war was one of the toughest and deadliest wars in American history. This was where the Confederate States of America fought for their independence. It took place from 1861 when the war broke out till April 9th 1865 when confederate commander Robert E. Lee surrendered at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House. It was one of the earliest true industrial wars. Industrial knowledge was used to produce weapons in mass-production. Steamships and railroads were used to supply troops and the telegraph which was relatively new was used in communication. Practices of total war were being used in the civil war. This shows that this was a tough war that needed the best…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil War has arguably been the most important event that America has undergone. The United State’s Civil War, also known as the War between the States, was fought from April 1861 until April 1865. The war was fought over the issues of slavery and the states’ rights. The Springfield, Spencer, Napoleon, and Gatling gun all helped the North and South in winning the Civil War. A large reason the North defeated the South was because of their advantage in weaponry.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Three years have passed so far in this bloody four year Civil war. The Confederate armies were winning the war against the Union. It was looking good for the Confederate until the battle of Gettysburg. This war was the turning point that would lead to a Union victory. I believe this because of the large abundance of Confederate men that were either missing, wounded, or dead, the momentum given to the Union, and that this is the key victory that stopped the invasion of the south from spreading into the north.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the end the south actually had several and harsh problems with their food supply. As recorded it cites,”Without Civil War food and water an army soon disintegrates into nothing more than a lot of starving people with no energy or will to fight.” and described in my first paragraph no man will survive on that field not being fed. “Confederate soldiers usually didn’t receive much food at all especially as the war dragged on.” showing that these men were dieing of starvation and at the point of surrendering. Now food isn't the exact way to win a war, but it may be the way the confederates lost. The Confederates completely forgot one thing they sent so many men to war that none were home to fix the garden/ plantation. Remember this and if they had been home 6 percent owned slaves at the time and what was their cash crop at that time? Their cash crop was cotton which tore the soil into crap(idk what to say besides that). So if they had to change they would have to first relocate their field, plant the seeds, wait for it to grow and not much men where there to do this labor because both the union and the south resorted to a draft for more men to battle for their side. The South not only were stuck inside there territory…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The American civil war was primarily a fight between two sides over numerous contradictory ideals. The civil war’s seeds started to grow when Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States of America which in turned caused tensions to rise. Unlike the peaceful ending of the Mexican Revolution, the American Civil War ended with the Battles of Palmito Ranch and Appotmax and the capture of Confederate President Davis. The end of this long, bloody conflict helped add three new amendments to the Constitution. Finally, the result of the American Civil War answered whether the United States would be an undividable country and whether it was truly…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil War was fought between the Northern and Southern states of of America. Was the Civil War inevitable? It was a conflict bound to happen due to the differences between the North and South’s views on slavery, society, and politics. The South wanted their independence and freedom from the North, while the North wanted unity.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The civil War and what led to it, has been a debatable subject since 1861. One of the main reasons that the war progressed is due to slavery and certain areas that was not yet to be called a state. Although, the civil War brought about a turning point for a lot of citizens, these issues still exist today, and it is not based on any particular people, but based on government boundaries, to still include racism, poverty, politics, and some forms of slavery.…

    • 1420 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Turning Point

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Civil War was a turning point in American history. If it had gone any different, times now would be very different as well. The root of the cause of the Confederacy seceding from the Union, or the South seceding from the North, was because they felt their way of life, which was based on slavery, was under threat from the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Progressing medicine on the battlefield saved lives, but lost most. The under trained surgeons were not ready for the hordes of diseased and injured.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays