Reasons for union victory essay Flashcards
Introduction
-during the war the conderderates where led by jefferson davis and the union abraham lincon
-Turning point in war during 1863 when north started winning after several southern wins such as their win at first bullrun
-war ended in 1865 when general Lee surrender at appomatoix court house virginia
Factors
-northern superiority in resources
-manpower
-political leadership
northern superiority in resources KU
-union greater infastructure allowing them to move easier they had 3 times the railway capacity
-ability to produce superior naval strength;allowing them to carry out naval blockade
-EV most significant more industrial, 9 times industrial capacity than south
northern superiority in resources historians
Richard Current argues that with the distribution of resources it would have taken a miracle for south to win
Manpower KU
-22 million northern (pop adv) over south who had 9 million of which only 5.5 million were white
-A 360,222 union deaths, 258,000 confederate deaths
-union had 7 million men of fighting age versus 2 million in south
-pockets of unionism in south e.g appalachian mountains loyal to union but conf land
-EV nsr most important military managment of resources by stanton gideon welless
Manpower historian
Shelby Foote who took the view that the north fought the war with “one hand behinf their back” therefore she thought the south never had a chance to win the war
Political Leadership KU
-north benefited from strong consistent leadership from president Lincoln as his leadership during crisis
-northern politics the formation of national union party (coalition of republicans and war democrats) showed unified front
-Jefferson Davis and his percieved focus on defending richmond and his handling of internal politics
-EV nsr as north had a more diverse agriculture economy allowing them to withstand disruptions caused by war
Political Leadership Historian
David Donald who argues that the confederacy “died of democracy”
