BALANCE OF POWER IN CIVIL WAR.   Term Paper ID:26663 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines advantages & disadvantages of North & South: labor, population, military, economics, production, geography, experience.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines advantages & disadvantages of North & South: labor, population, military, economics, production, geography, experience. Paper Introduction: We know the Union will win the Civil War and we know that the anti-slavery Union should win the Civil War, and because of both of these facts we often do not think about how apparent the North’s advantage was at the beginning of this fraternal battle over the fate of slavery and the United States waged between 1861 and 1865. This paper takes up that topic, examining the balance of resources between the North and South at the beginning of the Civil War and the implication of this balance of preparedness for the initial strategy of the two sides. Although by the end of the war the North would seem to hold an advantage over the South in terms of its infrastructure, in fact it was the case in 1861 that neither the North nor the South was prepared initially to wage a war (Garrison, 1998, p. 41). The first important element in calculating the relative stren Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Even with its superior manpower and resources, however, the North didnot achieve the quick victory it had expected. In thisarea - as perhaps in no other - the Confederacy had a distinct advantage,and it was the advantage in this area that probably gave the South itsearly victories and in the end prolonged the war. The amazing Civil War. They believed that the fallof Richmond would demoralize the South and bring the war to a rapid close.Lincoln's military advisers, however, convinced him to implement the"Anaconda Plan." Devised by General Winfield Scott, it called for theestablishment of a naval blockade around the Confederacy to prevent theimportation of supplies from Europe, followed by an invasion of theMississippi Valley to cut the Confederacy in half (Garrison, 1998, p. An alternate plan calledfor an offensive strike into the North before that section could mobilizeits superior manpower and material goods. Thestrategy for achieving this goal that was most popular with the Northernpress, the public, and political leaders called for a direct overland marchon Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. Although by the end of the war the North would seem to hold anadvantage over the South in terms of its infrastructure, in fact it was thecase in 1861 that neither the North nor the South was prepared initially towage a war (Garrison, 1998, p. This too necessitated a lessaggressive approach on the part of Confederate leaders, although this wasless true at the beginning of war than later on (Garrison, 1998, p. The South'sability to fight was hampered by chronic shortages of food, clothing,medicine, and heavy artillery, as well as by war weariness and theunpredictability of its black labor force. Victory in warmay ultimately always depend on how many bodies can be put onto thebattlefield - and afterwards into the ground - but some large measure ofparity can be maintained (at least in the short run) by greater skill increating strategy, and this is precisely what the South did. Lacking the same degree of medical care(which was, admittedly, pretty minimal on both sides), Southern soldierswere also slower to recover from injuries (if they recovered at all) andweaker when they returned to fighting. (1998). Confederate leaders also differed on the most effective strategy.Davis thought in terms of a defensive war that would wear down the North,attract foreign sympathy and support, and result in the acknowledgment ofSouthern independence. 47). The South had apopulation of 9 million, but of that number, nearly 4 million were enslavedblacks whose loyalty to the Confederate cause was always in doubt. New York: Rutledge Hill. If the South could keep its army in thefield until the North lost the will to fight, the Confederacy would win thewar. The cliché that an army marcheson its stomach has a great deal of truth to it, and Southern soldiers -however brave they might be - could simply not march as far or as fast asthe better fed Union soldiers. In this assessment they were right, for the war that the Northfinally won was (as so many wars are) one of attrition. 112). The South also had the advantage that it was conducting defensiveoperations on familiar terrain. Whereas the South merely had to defend itself, the North needed todestroy the South's capacity to make war and compel total surrender. Lee. With a populationof 22 million, the North had a greater military potential. 27). This paper takes up that topic,examining the balance of resources between the North and South at thebeginning of the Civil War and the implication of this balance ofpreparedness for the initial strategy of the two sides. In addition to this simple mathematical advantage in terms of numbersof available bodies, the North possessed clear material advantages in moneyand credit, factories, food production, mineral resources, and transport.All of these would prove in their own ways to be decisive. Only through trial and error did Lincoln findcomparable military leaders, such as Ulysses S. 41). This meant that while the Southern leaders had to be much morecareful in guarding their resources than Union leaders, they also hadprecisely the skills needed to safeguard men and supplies. But the long, exposed frontier between the North andthe South rendered such a strategy unrealistic. Grant and William T.Sherman. Althoughthey initially relied on volunteers, necessity eventually forced both sidesto resort to a military draft to raise an army. In contrast, the North needed to attack on a broad front and sustainlong avenues of communication and supply. ReferencesGarrison, W. Clearly, the numbers of soldiers available - regardlessof their skill or training or the state of their weaponry - gave anadvantage to the North and allowed Union military leaders to be moreaggressive in battle (or more careless of human life, to take a differentperspective) (Garrison, 1998, p. The first important element in calculating the relative strength ofthe two sides is a simple assessment of the relative pool of labor - bothcivilian and military - that the two sides could draw on. Before the war ended, theSouth had enlisted about 9 , white males, and the Union had enrolledabout 2 million men (including 186, blacks), nearly half of them towardthe end of the war. To raise, train, and equip amassive fighting force from inexperienced volunteers and to find efficientmilitary leadership proved a formidable and time-consuming task. The South, with its stronger military tradition, had more menexperienced in the use of arms and produced an able corps of officers,including Robert E. Those who advocated this strategybelieved that the more prolonged the war, the less chance the South had ofwinning it. We know the Union will win the Civil War and we know that the anti-slavery Union should win the Civil War, and because of both of these factswe often do not think about how apparent the North's advantage was at thebeginning of this fraternal battle over the fate of slavery and the UnitedStates waged between 1861 and 1865. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.