ESSAY NUMBER 1 During the war the North and South or the Union and the Confederacy were very similar when it came to them fighting in the war However when it came to their resources leadership and war strategies then were very different The North over all was stronger when it came to their resource even the leadership backgrounds in the North were better than in the South which ultimately helped determined the outcome of the war leading the North to Victory When it came to resources during the war the Union out shinned the Confederacy The North its self was more industrial than the south which made it much easier for them to produce things like weapons where as the South was mainly farm land making it more difficult for them to produce weapons that they didn t always have Before the way the North and the South worked together simultaneously they shared resources but because of the war that option was long gone The Union experienced a much larger wealth than the Confederacy did as much as 75 compared to the Confederates 25 Goldfield The American Journey A History of the United States page 407 This allowed the Union to fund the war better than the Confederacy could just on the basic principal that they had more money The Union also controlled a much larger percentage of farm acreage throughout the war this again was 75 to the Confederacy s 25 Goldfield page 407 Due to this the Northern farms produced record harvest of meat grains and vegetables Although Southern farmers were productive in farming they lacked the North s capacity to transport and distribute food effectively This was because the North s railroad system was more than double the South s railroad system Goldfield page 407 Because of this the Union was readily stocked with food and provisions throughout the duration of the war where the Confederacy had a difficult time keeping pace with the Union Another big resource that the union had over the Confederacy was population which meant able bodies to fight in the war The Union had a total of 2 1 million men fighting representing only half of the military aged men in the Union at the time the Confederacy had a mere 900 000 men which represented 90 of the military aged men in the Confederacy Goldfield page 407 This alone meant more manpower and more people to fight in the Union against the Confederacy which is a huge resource in its self In terms of leadership the Union again had an advantage over the Confederacy The Union s leader was none other than President Lincoln the Union loved President Lincoln and the backed him full heartedly They trusted him although they needed to be convinced that the Civil War was something to support Lincoln along with other Northern leaders succeeded in that by telling them the importance of preserving the Union Goldfield page 409 The Union troops felt close with President Lincoln and they trusted him to lead the Union to victory President Lincoln was easy good and well mannered he was easy to talk to and was not an intimidating figure The Confederacy experienced different events when their leader Once they were no longer a part of the Union the Confederacy had to find a President of the South This was left in the hands of Jefferson Davis who became the Confederacy President Unlike President Lincoln President Davis did not already have government in place on top of planning and preparing for war he had to construct an effective government that would survive the war He had the brains and the skills to be a great President the biggest problem he experienced however was he was awkward with people he was considered to be aloof President Davis also was inclined to equate compromise with weakness and interpreted opposition as a personal attack Goldfield page 408 He had a hard time listening to his advisors and in return he saw things as his way or the highway so to speak The problem with this kind of attitude was he could not relate to the people or his troops like President Lincoln could this in return made things difficult Lastly the Union and the Confederacy had different military strategies President Lincoln had a decision to make once Virginia Arkansas North Carolina and Tennessee let the Union He had certain states that if he lost them to the Confederacy they would lose multiple advantages including the fact that the Unions capital would now be in the hands of the Confederacy Due to this President Lincoln adopted a soft strategy with the so called border states in order to secure them Goldfield page 409 President Lincoln promised them that his policy of ending slavery would not affect them during the war which was a big deal to these four states Maryland Delaware Kentucky and Missouri because they were slave states at the time President Lincoln had to make sure to keep peace with these states during the war and at times that became difficult but he did it in a gentle way that proved to be successful President Lincolns main strategies and political objective was to preserve the Union and in order to do this they needed to invade the South and take over the Confederacy Goldfield page 410 The South had different strategies most of the battles were fought in the south so it was not abut invasion of the Union for them They were focused on maintain their independence as well as protect their institutions Goldfield page 410 President Davis focused on trying to build the government from the ground and the make sure they remained there own government and kept the Union out as much as possible Since the Union and the Confederacy had different reasons for the war it made it impossible to compromise and it became a war that was pretty much whoever died or surrendered first lost and the other won Overall the Union had better resources and better leadership As where military strategy is concerned both sides wanted different things and their strategy reflected that ones strategy was not necessarily better than the other because it is hard to compare different goal against one another In the end the Union won and it was defiantly a benefit that they came out on top with their resources and leadership When it came to times of battle neither side fought better but the North had better resources which in the long run helped them more than actual skill in war The Union was on top and they overall just had more support which helped them overcome any issue that came up during wartime The Confederacy lacked in these areas and it showed because by the end the
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