The South lost the Civil War for a number or reasons, I will highlight however what I believe to be a most significant reason. The South lost the Civil War because their slaves fled to Union lines. The Union capitalised on this by claiming the slaves as 'war bonds'. The slaves then joined Union forces and fought against their ex-masters and the confederates. The war was being fought to end Slavery, and with the slaves themselves deserting and turning on the South, the South was worn down and eventually surrendered. The war has to be looked at beyond decisive battles, but as war of resources. The side that used its resources most effectively and sabotaged the enemies resources, would win the war in the long run. Because the South's resources were turned against them, it was only a matter of time before they would be whittled down and forced to give in.
There was no single cause that led to the defeat of the South. There were several factors which meant that the South’s defeat became inevitable, but in my view there were 3 main points. Firstly the economic power lay clearly in the North with much more industry and rail for transport and to produce arms. Secondly was the population, while at the start of the war the confederate army was larger, the ability for the North to call upon more troops severely hindered the South’s progress. Third was the motivation of the soldiers. While at the beginning of the war both sides were eager to fight, believing it would be a short war, after several years the moral of the troops was falling and the Southerners began to question why they were fighting slavery when most of them did not own slaves
There are always many factors which go into any victory, however I believe the two main causes of the South's defeat were inferior manpower, and a weaker economy. The effect of the North having access to more reinforcements was that even though the South continued to win the majority of the battles, the North could always retreat, recruit more men, and fight again. On the other hand, when the North won a battle it was often a crushing blow, because the South did not have enough people from which to draw reinforcements. The strength of the respective economies was important because the Northern army was able to pay and feed their troops consistently, while the South could not. This led to huge moral problems among Southern soldiers. In the end, the North won because of their superior numbers and stronger economy.
There were several major reasons as to why the South lost the Civil War, ranging from military, political, moral, and a variety of other reasons. However, I feel that the biggest problem to have faced the South was the strong belief [held by both sides, actually] that the war would end with a single, elegant, decisive, Napoleonic-era style grand battle, which, I believe, led to them throwing their best troops away in the earlier stages of the war in relatively indecisive battles, when the Confederacy, really, could have won simply by existing until the North grew war-weary enough to ask for terms - it had the advantages of being closeted by advantageous terrain, and, at the beginning of the war, relatively little effects in its economy. The belief that the war could be ended with a single, swift stroke allowed the Confederacy to make the fatal mistake of throwing all it had in the beginning, only to find their efforts fruitless - and, effectively, draining them dry of soldiers when the huge manpower and economic advantages that the North possessed began to really shine through.
Historians make many suggestions in regard to why the South lost. McPherson’s article so aptly reminds us that history cannot be definitive. In that spirit I will propose some possible reasons why I think the South lost the Civil War. Half have been referred to as external factors. These include; the North’s overwhelming advantage in their railroad capacity, it’s in industrial production and in their sheer man power (the North had two and a half times population of the South). This also allowed the North to block major ports creating food shortages and crushing Southern economy. However, history does present us with many occasions where armies with smaller numbers have claimed victory. Thus internal conflict can be used to highlight reasons outside the external for why the South lost. Some blamed Jefferson Davis for incompetent leadership, some suggests division within the confederacy and the way in which the pursuit of state rights undermined the central government’s ability to organise their side of the war. This lack of cohesion within the confederacy and the strength of the Northern army hindered the South’s capacity to feed and pay their troops, fill their ranks and prevent soldier’s desertion creating low morale within the Southern army. These internal and external factors combined can be used to explain why the South lost.
Ultimately, I believe the South lost due to weaker armies, lower populations fight and the freeing of slaves in the South. They did put up a considerable fight given their available resources but it was to no avail. The North was a far more considerable military and economic force. They also had the indisputable bonus of a larger population that only grew with the gain of freed slaves from the South. The North was also able to look after their troops whilst the South failed at this, becoming disorganized and neglectful as an army. The South seemed broken by the end of the war by a combination of factors and their surrender became inevitable
The south lost the Civil War as a result of defeat in crucial battles, notably Gettysburg and Antietam, coupled with an inability to withstand the staying power of the northern war machine. As McPherson suggests, the excessive casualties suffered at Antietam and the innovative tactical manoeuvring of Sherman in Atlanta began to take its toll on Northern morale. Furthermore, the north was able to utilise their resources more effectively, eventually penetrating the southern defence as the society was scrambling to consolidate its chattel economy and low-population with an increasingly futile war effort.
The South lost the Civil War for a number or reasons, I will highlight however what I believe to be a most significant reason. The South lost the Civil War because their slaves fled to Union lines. The Union capitalised on this by claiming the slaves as 'war bonds'. The slaves then joined Union forces and fought against their ex-masters and the confederates. The war was being fought to end Slavery, and with the slaves themselves deserting and turning on the South, the South was worn down and eventually surrendered. The war has to be looked at beyond decisive battles, but as war of resources. The side that used its resources most effectively and sabotaged the enemies resources, would win the war in the long run. Because the South's resources were turned against them, it was only a matter of time before they would be whittled down and forced to give in.
ReplyDeleteThere was no single cause that led to the defeat of the South. There were several factors which meant that the South’s defeat became inevitable, but in my view there were 3 main points. Firstly the economic power lay clearly in the North with much more industry and rail for transport and to produce arms. Secondly was the population, while at the start of the war the confederate army was larger, the ability for the North to call upon more troops severely hindered the South’s progress. Third was the motivation of the soldiers. While at the beginning of the war both sides were eager to fight, believing it would be a short war, after several years the moral of the troops was falling and the Southerners began to question why they were fighting slavery when most of them did not own slaves
ReplyDeleteThere are always many factors which go into any victory, however I believe the two main causes of the South's defeat were inferior manpower, and a weaker economy. The effect of the North having access to more reinforcements was that even though the South continued to win the majority of the battles, the North could always retreat, recruit more men, and fight again. On the other hand, when the North won a battle it was often a crushing blow, because the South did not have enough people from which to draw reinforcements. The strength of the respective economies was important because the Northern army was able to pay and feed their troops consistently, while the South could not. This led to huge moral problems among Southern soldiers. In the end, the North won because of their superior numbers and stronger economy.
ReplyDeleteThere were several major reasons as to why the South lost the Civil War, ranging from military, political, moral, and a variety of other reasons. However, I feel that the biggest problem to have faced the South was the strong belief [held by both sides, actually] that the war would end with a single, elegant, decisive, Napoleonic-era style grand battle, which, I believe, led to them throwing their best troops away in the earlier stages of the war in relatively indecisive battles, when the Confederacy, really, could have won simply by existing until the North grew war-weary enough to ask for terms - it had the advantages of being closeted by advantageous terrain, and, at the beginning of the war, relatively little effects in its economy. The belief that the war could be ended with a single, swift stroke allowed the Confederacy to make the fatal mistake of throwing all it had in the beginning, only to find their efforts fruitless - and, effectively, draining them dry of soldiers when the huge manpower and economic advantages that the North possessed began to really shine through.
ReplyDeleteHistorians make many suggestions in regard to why the South lost. McPherson’s article so aptly reminds us that history cannot be definitive. In that spirit I will propose some possible reasons why I think the South lost the Civil War. Half have been referred to as external factors. These include; the North’s overwhelming advantage in their railroad capacity, it’s in industrial production and in their sheer man power (the North had two and a half times population of the South). This also allowed the North to block major ports creating food shortages and crushing Southern economy. However, history does present us with many occasions where armies with smaller numbers have claimed victory. Thus internal conflict can be used to highlight reasons outside the external for why the South lost. Some blamed Jefferson Davis for incompetent leadership, some suggests division within the confederacy and the way in which the pursuit of state rights undermined the central government’s ability to organise their side of the war. This lack of cohesion within the confederacy and the strength of the Northern army hindered the South’s capacity to feed and pay their troops, fill their ranks and prevent soldier’s desertion creating low morale within the Southern army. These internal and external factors combined can be used to explain why the South lost.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, I believe the South lost due to weaker armies, lower populations fight and the freeing of slaves in the South. They did put up a considerable fight given their available resources but it was to no avail. The North was a far more considerable military and economic force. They also had the indisputable bonus of a larger population that only grew with the gain of freed slaves from the South. The North was also able to look after their troops whilst the South failed at this, becoming disorganized and neglectful as an army. The South seemed broken by the end of the war by a combination of factors and their surrender became inevitable
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe south lost the Civil War as a result of defeat in crucial battles, notably Gettysburg and Antietam, coupled with an inability to withstand the staying power of the northern war machine. As McPherson suggests, the excessive casualties suffered at Antietam and the innovative tactical manoeuvring of Sherman in Atlanta began to take its toll on Northern morale. Furthermore, the north was able to utilise their resources more effectively, eventually penetrating the southern defence as the society was scrambling to consolidate its chattel economy and low-population with an increasingly futile war effort.
ReplyDelete