Why the North Won
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“If wars are won by riches, there can be no question why the North eventually prevailed.” The North was better equipped than the South, with the resources necessary to be successful in a long term war like the Civil War was, which was fought from 1861 – 1865. Prior, and during the Civil war, the Norths economy was always stronger than the Souths, boasting of resources that the Confederacy had no means of attaining. Compared to the South, The North had more factories available for production of war supplies and larger amounts of land for growing crops. Its population was several times of the Souths, which was a potential source for military enlistees. Although the South had better naval leadership and commanders, such as Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson, they lacked the number of factories and industries to produce needed war materials. Therefore, the North won the American Civil War due to the strength of their industrialized economy, rather than their commanders and strategies.
The American Civil War was fought between the North (The Union) and the South (The Confederates), because of the South wanting to secede from the North. Lincolns election as president in 1860, triggered southerners decision to secede believing Lincoln would restrict their rights to own slaves. Lincoln stated that secession was “legally void” and had no intentions of invading the Southern states, but would use force to maintain possession of federal property. Despite his pleas for the restorations of the bonds of union, the South fired upon the federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter, in Charlestown, Virginia. This was the event that decided the eventual beginning of the Civil War. Despite the advantages of Northerners, their victory in the War Between the States was not inevitable. Several Confederate victories were scored during the early years of the war and the North failed to achieve any marked successes. The Confederate victory at the Battle of Bull Run was a definite victory for the
South and had cost the Union dearly. Later, Antietam had given the Union a small victory and prompted President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation announcing all slaves in the Confederate territory still in rebellion were freed. Unfortunately for the North, this was soon followed by another Confederate victory at the battle of Fredericksburg. So, why did the South eventually lose? When the question is asked that way, it somewhat implies that the South lost the war all by itself and that it really could have won it. One answer is that the North won it. The South lost because the North outmanned and outclassed it at almost every point, militarily.
From the onset of the war, the Union had its obvious advantages. They simply had large amounts of resources of which the South did not. “In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. You are bound to fail” –Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman to a Southern friend. Over 85 percent of the nations industry and significant material resources were controlled by the North. The North was able to use take power of their economical advantages to produce military supplies, and replace damaged equipment more rapidly than the Confederacy. On top of that, forces for the field could be re-supplied rapidly because of the Norths excellent transportation network of highways, canals and railroads. The North had huge control over the transportation system. Of the 30,000 miles of railroads the North controlled 20,000 of them. By the beginning of war in 1860, the Union, from an economical standpoint, stood like a “towering giant” over the Southern society. Of the over 128,000 industrial firms in the nation at this time, the Confederacy held only 18,026. New England alone topped the figure with over 19,000, and so did Pennsylvania 21,000 and New York with 23,000 . The total value of goods manufactured in the state of New York alone was over four times that of the entire Confederacy. The Northern states produced 96 percent of the locomotives in the country, and, as for firearms, more of them were made in one Connecticut county than in all the Southern factories combined. Given all the resources the North possessed — financial, economic, manpower — it would be predicted that after all these resources were available, the South could not win the war. The Confederacy had made one critical mistake by believing that its thriving cotton industry alone would be enough to maintain itself throughout the war. Southerners failed to see the need to enter into the industrial territories when good money could be made with cotton. What they failed to realize was that the cotton boom had done more for the North than it had done for the South. Southerners could grow vast amounts of cotton, but due to the lack of mills, they could do nothing with it but sell it as a raw material. As a result, the cotton was sold to the Northerners who would use it in their factories to produce wools and linens, which were in turn sold back to the South. This cycle stimulated industrial growth in the Union but dissolved it in the Confederate states.
The Norths farming industries were important supplements to its economic dominance of the South. With the majority of the nations farms in the North, the Union had large amounts of land available for growing food crops which served the dual purpose of providing food for its hungry soldiers and money for its ever-growing industries. Southern