Confederacy Advantages

On the eve of the American Civil War, many white Southerners held the Confederacy as the favorite to win. It was not an unrealistic view. The South contained more slave states than the North did free states. In terms of land size, this gave the Confederacy an edge. The South had a history of military experience since the War of 1812 and was occupied by several military schools. Therefore they had an abundance of trained military officers that could lead them to victory. They were also fighting a defensive war, meaning they were fighting on land they knew and were determined to defend. Although the South had these advantages that made them a staunch adversary of the North during the Civil War, the Union had a multitude of advantages over the Confederacy that enabled them to defeat the South. The North contained a free population four times the size …show more content…
navy. “By 1865, the United States had the largest navy in the world.” The North possessed over forty active warships against none for the South. In addition it had the industrial capacity to make and maintain more. At the onset of the war, the Union instructed the navy to blockade the South’s thirty-five hundred mile coastline. Because the South mainly produced cash crops and fewer food crops, it was dependant on its foreign trade with Europe for supplies and income. However, with its overseas interactions halted, the Confederacy was unable to export cotton and goods, leaving it to rely on itself to generate food and needed materials. In contrast, the North was in the business of producing crops that were requisite during war time. The North held sixty percent of the country’s farm acreage. It produced half the nation’s corn, four-fifths of its wheat, seven-eighths of its oats, and owned sixty percent of its livestock. For the South, cotton production provided income, while for the North, staple goods provided essential