The Civil War: The Tale of the Tape

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.  I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.”  -Abraham Lincoln: June 16^th, 1858

    Radical politics sparked the Revolutionary era and the Spirit of 76’.  Radical politics sparked the Civil War era; the argument between state vs. federal government and slave vs. Free State divided the country, forcing citizens and political leaders to divide against itself… The Union could not stand.

  

    The American Civil War can be considered an attempted revolution.  The American Civil War and Revolutionary War can be interchanged in definition.  Both, fueled by radical politics that created a divide in the population and fought on American soil, show similar characteristics.  Yet, a logistical difference is that the rebels were successful in the Revolutionary War, but unsuccessful in the Civil War.  Interestingly, the colonists and confederates shared in disadvantages of supplies, funding, and resources, yet the outcome is different.  Let’s take a look at the tale of the tape between Lincoln’s Union Army and Jefferson Davis’s Confederate Army.

The American Civil War

Tale of the Tape

	Union	Confederacy	Explanation
Home Field /Geography			The large majority of the fighting took place on southern soil, where the Confederacy had the advantage.  However this could be a double-edged sword as the fighting and presence of both armies destroyed land and resources in the South.
Access to Supplies			By the outset of the war, the Union has over double the mileage of railroad track than the Confederacy. North: 22,000 Miles South:  9,500 Miles[1]
Government			The Union had an experienced government and the leadership skill of Abraham Lincoln.  The South was re-organizing a government, starting basically from scratch.
Leadership			Names such Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Joseph Johnston, J.E.B. Stuart lead the long list of excellent officers fighting for the South.  This is a huge advantage for the South until U.S. Grant and W.T. Sherman take control of the Union’s forces in the East. *Lincoln as a leader could pull the check mark to the Union side.  The Union had a large officer corps with capable officers.
Military			Although the South had excellent leadership, their sheer lack of numbers compared to the North gave a significant military advantage to the North.
Navy			The Navy of the Union did more damage as a blockading force.  Preventing the South from importing resources.
Funding			The industrialized North had around 80% of the bank deposits in the country.  On top of the economics, most factories in the United States were located in the North.
Attitude			Similar situation to the Revolution.  The Confederacy was fighting for something they could see in their everyday life; states’ rights, slavery, and their way of life.  The Union was fighting to preserve the Union, an idea that was difficult for the Northern population to understand.
Over-Confidence			Similar to the mentality of the British in the Revolution, the Union thought they would easily put down the rebellion; this became a strategic and costly mistake early on in the war.
Supplies			The Union had the advantage of factories and industrialization and the means to move their supplies to the army in the field with the railroads sprawling across the North.
Pressure			It was up to the Union to convincingly win.  The South had only to hold off and defend themselves from the Union.  The Union needed to be the offensive.
Important Allies			This is a Union advantage because of the lack of an ally of the Confederacy.  Lincoln used his executive power to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, a war measure.  This put slavery as a reason for the war which eliminated England/France, who despised slavery, as a possible ally to the Confederacy.

    The Civil War, unlike the Revolutionary War, is usually presented through the military engagements, high casualty numbers, and a successful, violent suppression of a rebellion.  The Confederates argued that states’ rights were the war cry for their rebellion.  The Union rallied under the banner of preserving the Union.  This was until slavery moved to the forefront of the war with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Obviously, many argue that the state right that the Confederacy was fighting for was slavery. 

    The Emancipation, certainly to be found illegal after the war, put slavery as reasoning for the fighting and prevented European nations from intervening on the side of the Confederacy.  The simple reality of the Emancipation being a war measure encouraged Lincoln to encourage Congress to pass the 13^th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

    The Civil War highlights heroics and hundreds of thousands of American giving the ultimate sacrifices at sites that have become hallowed ground; Antietam, Shiloh, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Fredericksburg, and Bull Run, among numerous others.  But, the comparisons to the Revolutionary War era are clear.  Radical politics sparked both as the idea of moderate politics was thrown out the door.  If you were pro-slavery, you would struggle in finding acceptance from the Republican right, if an abolitionist, the struggle would be similar from the Democratic left. 

    Although the Confederates had the advantages of knowledge of territory, fighting for a cause, talented officers, and the advantage of being on the defensive, the overwhelming numbers and access to supplies was enough to put down their revolutionary attempt.  The second attempted revolution of the United States was a failure.

Have other advantages/disadvantages into the reasoning behind the failure of the Confederacy or success of the Union? Comment your thoughts, add to the discussion!

Interested for more?

General Overview of the Civil War

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    Now that we have taken a look at why the initial revolution was a success and a subsequent revolution failed, let us look at the current state of the United States.  Are we on the verge of a third revolutionary period?  The radical politics that were evident in the years leading to the Revolutionary War and Civil War and are evident today may give support to the affirmative.

    We are in the year of what many are calling one the most important presidential elections in United States history.  Yet, polls show the United States is more divided and we have two candidates that fail to have a simple majority of support among the electorate.  The radical politics and pulling of the citizenry to their ideological extremes is creating a revolutionary environment in the United States.

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[1]http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/warfare-and-logistics/logistics/railroads.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/