HST 121: History of the United States to 1877

Civil War

Why did the North win and the South lose the Civil War?

I. Advantages for the North

A. Navy

B. Manufacturing

C. Population

D. Transportation

II. Offsetting advantages for the South

A. Blockade runners

B. Foreign supplies give time to build war industry

C. Less numbers needed for defense

D. Fabian and guerrilla options

III. Foreign powers

A. Diplomacy

1. C.S.A.: King Cotton

2. Union: Anti-Slavery

B. Economics

1. Cotton surplus

2. Foreign demand for food

C. Possible naval arms race

IV. Union strategy

A. Naval blockade

B. Divide the C.S.A.

--Battle of Vicksburg

C. Total war

--Sherman's March

V. C.S.A. strategic problems

A. Concentration in East

B. Offense--backwards from War of Independence

1. Antietam

2. Gettysburg

C. Not pursuing Fabian and guerrilla options