Test Your Knowledge: Answer Each Question T/F Leading up to the Civil War, the South had 2 times as many people as the North. More leaders from the Confederacy attended West Point than leaders from the Union. Overall, Union leaders were more experienced than Confederate leaders. The majority of Civil War battles were fought in the North. One of the disadvantages of the South during the Civil War was its lack of agricultural diversity.
Northern and Southern Advantages and Disadvantages During the Civil War
Population North Free: 21,909,269 Slave: 432,632 Total: 22,341,901 South Free: 5,482,222 Slave: 3,521,150 Total: 9,003,372
Number of Soldiers North South 2,100,000 1,064,000
Farming (Farmland by Value: Millions of Dollars) 51-150 Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut 151-300 Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey 301-450 Tennessee Kentucky Indiana 451-600 Illinois 601-750 Ohio Pennsylvania Over 751 New York Farming (Farmland by Value: Millions of Dollars)
Cotton Production
Industry/Manufacturing Workers in Manufacturing North Proportion of Nation’s Manufacturing Workers 92% located in the North 8% located in the South South
Manufacturing/Industry
Union Leaders Name West Point Graduate Class Rank Military Experience Nathaniel P. Banks No N/A None Don Carlos Buell Yes 32 Mexican War Ambrose B. Burnside 18 Benjamin f. Butler Samuel R. Curtis 27 John C. Fremont Ulysses S. Grant 21 George B. McClellan 2 Irvin McDowell 23 John Pope 17
Confederate Leaders Name West Point Graduate Class Rank Military Experience P.G.T. Beauregard Yes 2 Mexican War Braxton Bragg 5 Second Seminole War, Mexican War Thomas J. Jackson 17 Albert S. Johnston 8 Black Hawk War, Texas War for Independence, Mexican War Robert E. Lee John B. Magruder 15 Earl C. Pemberton 27 Leonidas K. Polk None
Railroad Lines
Telegraph Lines (Laid During the War) North South 15,000 miles 461 miles
Home-Field Advantage and Determination
Odds and Ends British elites sympathized with the South If Britain took the South’s side, the North’s chance of winning went down considerably. Southern slaves Provided labor while white men fought the war. North had more money to sustain a long war. Had ¾ of the nation’s wealth. South was a newly found country. Did not have a professional, organized standing army and navy. North was an established country. The army and navy were already organized and ready for war. North had more naval power. Seized and blockaded many Southern ports. This reduced the importation of goods the South needed for its war effort (this relates back to industry: the North had all it needed, the South did not).
Conclusion “If the South and the North had the same population and the industrial output and the beginning of the war, there is little reason to believe that the Union could have defeated the Confederacy. Outnumbered and outgunned, however, the Confederacy found their ability to make war slowly whittled away by the Union. Many things could have happened to change this slow bleed type of warfare. If, for example, several of the key Confederate generals had remained loyal to the Union, the war might have been over much more quickly and not have been nearly as destructive. As it was, however, the strengths of both sides largely canceled out each other and resulted in a draw. The North had more resources that allowed them to continue the war longer than the South could, but only after a long, bloody fight.”
Test Your Knowledge: Answer Each Question T/F Leading up to the Civil War, the South had 2 times as many people as the North. More leaders from the Confederacy attended West Point than leaders from the Union. Overall, Union leaders were more experienced than Confederate leaders. The majority of Civil War battles were fought in the North. One of the disadvantages of the South during the Civil War was its lack of agricultural diversity.
Newspaper Article Northern Perspective The North and the South are on the verge of a possible civil war, and you are a newspaper reporter for the North. You are extremely interested in the tensions that have been mounting between the North and the South. So, over the past week, you have been conducting interviews and carrying out research to learn about the Northern and Southern advantages and disadvantages when it comes to fighting a war. Now, your research is complete, and you need to write an article for your newspaper to inform your readers about the main reasons why the North would defeat the South if the tensions in the United States result in civil war.
Newspaper Article Southern Perspective The North and the South are on the verge of a possible civil war, and you are a newspaper reporter for the South. You are extremely interested in the tensions that have been mounting between the North and the South. So, over the past week, you have been conducting interviews and carrying out research to learn about the Northern and Southern advantages and disadvantages when it comes to fighting a war. Now, your research is complete, and you need to write an article for your newspaper to inform your readers about the main reasons why the South would defeat the North if the tensions in the United States result in civil war.