CIVIL WAR: CONTRASTING THE TWO SIDES

Created by Ms. Pat Browne - 8th Grade Social Studies MHMS - Maryland – Civil War Research Wikipage

Why did the South Secede From (or leave) the Union?

The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 , who the South perceived to be an abolitionist, was the final straw, and the secession of seven Southern states followed soon after.

Secession

• Most white Southerners favored secession (leaving the Union to form the CSA).

• Some pockets of Union support existed in Tennessee and Virginia. People in the Appalachian region opposed secession.

Secession (cont.)

• In the western part of Virginia, a movement to secede from the state of Virginia and rejoin the Union grew.

• In 1861, 48 Virginia counties organized themselves into a separate state called West Virginia, which Congress admitted to the Union as a new state in 1863.

Who were the ConfederateStates of America?

• By February 1861, seven southern states (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida) had left the Union to form the CSA

• After the attack on Ft. Sumter, four more states (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas) joined the Confederacy making a total of 11 Confederate states

Who were the Union States?• There were 19 states that remained in the

Union (the United States of America), plus the four border states

Border States

Four states that allowed slavery did not secede Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, and Delaware. These were called border states, and remained as part of the Union throughout the war.

Border States (cont.)

• Lincoln didn’t want to upset people in the border states so he did not announce that he aimed to end slavery

• Losing the four border states would damage the North. All of the border states had strategic locations

• Maryland had vital railroad lines that passed through it; Washington DC lay within the state, so if MD seceded, the US capital would be surrounded.

Comparing the North (the Union) and

the South (the Confederacy)

• The Civil War lasted four years (1861 - 1865); how each side used their strengths and weakness would determine the war’s outcome.

• As the war began each side had advantages and disadvantages.

Confederate Advantages:

• Strong support that the white population or “home front gave to the war – highly motivated to fight because they had a strong sense of being wronged

• Engaged in defensive warfare – less costly in terms of men and materiél

• Fighting in familiar territory - defending their land, homes, and their way of life

• Military leadership was superior to the North’s from the beginning, which provided an important tactical advantage

• Wealth – from the value of its exports (especially cotton)

Union Advantages:• Controlled most of the nation’s money making it easier to finance the

Northern war effort• Better banking system - more bank deposits• Larger population• More industry (value of manufacturing); factories were available to

produce wartime materiél• More abundant resources - weapons, uniforms, food, etc.• More farm acreage – access to more food • Controlled both the merchant marine and U.S. Navy, so had ships, plus

all members of the existing navy• Controlled 70% of the nation’s railroads making it easier move troops and

support items• President Abraham Lincoln’s leadership

Confederate Disadvantages:

• Agricultural economy, but produced half as much food as the North

• Smaller population of free men to draw upon in building an army

• Few factories to manufacture weapons and other supplies• Had less than half the miles of railroad tracks and vastly fewer

trains than the North - had great difficulty delivering food, weapons, and other supplies to its troops

• Had no organized government at first• Its belief in states’ rights hampered its efforts because the 11

individual states refused to give the Confederate government sufficient power to wage the war effectively.

UnionDisadvantages:

• Bringing the Southern states back into the Union was going to be difficult - it would require the North to invade and hold the South (a large area filled with hostile people)

• The Southern people’s support for the war was strong - they believed they could defeat the North

• Union had a much smaller pool of experienced military officers

• There was limited support for the war effort as the war continued and some groups actively resisted the draft.

The Union’s Objectives for the War:

Their goal was to bring the Southern states back into the Union (Note: ending slavery

was not a major Northern goal at first)

3 Main Strategies:(1) to blockade or close Southern ports(2) gain control of the Mississippi River(3) capture Richmond, Virginia the

Confederate capital

The Confederacy’s Objectives for the War :

Primary goal was to win recognition as an independent nation - to allow them to preserve their

traditional way of life, including slavery

The South developed a defensive strategy: (1) Defend its homeland and hold onto its territory (2) Gain the support of Britain and France (3) Take the offensive - go on the attack and

threaten Washington, DC and other Northern cities

“Brother Against Brother”

• Families throughout the North and South felt the divisions and often had relatives on both sides

• Many officers on both sides had fought together in the U.S. Army in previous wars and never dreamed that one day they would be fighting each other.

“Total War”

Definition:

Where an army targets both military, as well as civilian economic resources

in an attempt to destroy their opponent’s ability to fight.