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The American Civil War (1861-1865), saw a remake in the American cultural, political, and social constitutions. Abraham Lincoln’s election into presidency saw the country divide itself into Northern and Southern states with each region having its own ideas on the issue of slavery that the newest President elect had vowed to stop. By the end of the war, an estimated six hundred and twenty Americans were dead and a lot of property was destroyed. Each region had advantages and disadvantages over the other and these played different roles in their positions during the war.
The major advantage the Northern States had lay in their work force. Despite possessing lesser skills in comparison to the Southern soldiers, they had an estimated four times as many citizens as the south had. These were their free men as the North was against slavery. This meant that, while a fraction fought in the war, others remained behind and worked in their factories to provide supplies and food for the soldiers. In addition, while the North grew food crops instead of cotton like the South, they also had industries that offered diversity in their economy and in turn gave the states another advantage over their counterparts. Finally yet importantly, the states had better means of transportation. This was so as they had most of the railway lines and navy ships that aided in the transfer of supplies and soldiers.
Their disadvantage lay in unskilled soldiers. Most of the fighters were previous factory workers and had no military skills. This made it hard for their soldiers to assume proper command and coordination in the war zones. The Southern states occupied larger land meaning the Northern invasion was to be successful if they conquered the big lands that were also unfamiliar to them.
As stated above, the Southern States had better soldiers in comparison to the North with most of the American soldiers at the time belonging to the South. The Civil War was fought on the Southern soils; this meant that their men had an advantage in their familiarity with the land. Finally, their people had a great determination to protect their policy on slavery and in turn, save their land from the ways of the Southerners.
An estimated one third of the Southern population was made up of slaves. Since they were fighting against Lincoln’s idea of freeing slaves, the patriotic soldiers were very few compared to the Northerners. They also had fewer railway lines and the Ports on which they depended on for cotton exportation had been closed. This meant that they had no or little means of transporting the supplies and their source of wealth was interfered with.
In conclusion, the Northerners won the war because of their position on the issue of slavery. With the international community supporting them and all the advantages they had over the Southern States, the North was bound to win the war. Besides, the South was fighting against freeing the very slaves on whom they depended for their economy. They were fighting an enemy that was already on their territory.
References
Symonds, C. (2013, April 8). American Civil War (1861-1865). New York Times .
