The Civil War,North Success
Why Did the North Win the Civil War? In 1861, following the secession of the Deep South on a platform of states rights, the right to property and the event of Fort Sumnter, the 'inevitable' conflict Seward had predicted emerged as the Civil War. Four years later Lee surrendered and so returned the Confederate states to the Union - the victory of the North was never as forgone as the onslaught of secession, and certainly historians such as McPherson have judged it would be dangerous to generalise over causes of the Northern Victory, since events on the battlefield could have taken a different course into Southern favour, changing the War's final outcome. However, there are several factors that were certainly crucial for northern victory - such as economic growth and stability, the political prowess and generalship of Lincoln and Military manpower and technique. Many historians of the post-war era and in the 20th century noted the economic might and manpower of the North as one of the main reasons for success. Economic factors were certainly crucial for the defeat of the South in 1865. By 1861, the North was, economically, in line with the Industrialised world of Northern Europe and Britain, and was way ahead of the 'backward'
Northerners outnumbered Southerners 22 million to a measly five million whites (slaves, who made up the remaining 4 million, were constitutionally only 3/5s of a citizen each, and so were not legible for the draft). Socially the North never stopped, theatres, politics, city growth, westward expansion etcetera were all continuing as in the anti-bellum period. It possessed 4 out of 5 factories, America's Banking system, 15 times more Iron and 38 times more Coal; it made it's own clothing and even during the war was never short of new migrants from Ireland and Germany. Lincoln managed to unite his people whilst preaching eloquently in public address - the site of the Ghettysburg battle, for example, was announced as a national cemetary, in a speech where he emphasised Democracy and Liberty as goals of the Civil War, reminding his compatriots of the values that had founded the nation in the 18th century, pleasing many constitutional unionists. The contemporary Confederate general Robert E. Lincoln used the Anaconda Plan well, by removing piece by piece what held the Confederacy together. The North had to rely little on Europe; it was self-sufficient, it had a variegated economy compared to the Southern reliance on cash crops as a source of income and could make everything required to fight the war - obtaining clothing, drugs and weaponry was never a problem for Northern battalions. Newspapers provided all the jingoism, identity and pride a Confederate patriot would need, in the pro-secessionist style as in the anti-bellum period. Lincoln's presidency was also a very important, crucial factor for Northern Victory. Britain left the war alone and found it could grow cotton in it's other colonies, such as India, any problems such as those found in Lancashire were claimed to be more caused by Overproduction rather than cotton shortage. Irish migrants were also not happy with the Emancipation Proclamation, believing that their work would be taken by the liberated Afro-Americans. The Republicans themselves were, however, never likely to allow the South to simply secede quietly, as a recognition of the Confederacy would recognise Slavery as legitimate - free soilers belived that such labour practices threatened the spread of free labour (and jobs for whites) with respect to westward expansion. The manpower and strategy of the Union military was also crucial to the northern victory. Lincoln was also Commander in Chief of the federal military, he ordered Blockades which crippled the South, sacked poor generals such as McChellen (taking the well trained Potomac army for himself) whilst employing good tactics through the Emancipation Proclamation - reducing the Southern economy and taking many Afro-Americans into the Union forces. Conscription, taxes and martial law, which were generally accepted in the Union without political (if not social) unrest, all found opposition, or obstructionism, from the more fundamental Southern politicians.
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