As the United States grew in both population and territory in the early- to mid-1800s, it became clear that the Americans were determined to cover as much ground as possible, spreading their new democratic way of life to new lands. While Manifest Destiny is characterized, at its core, as the spread of the liberty and self-governance the Americans fought for, it had more convoluted desires than is traditionally recounted. Americans of all walks fueled the movement towards western expansion, but the power laid favorably in the hands of the “American race,” or the whites of northern European descent (Brinkley 348). Americans who pushed for westward expansion frequently spoke of the benefits of this American race, and refuted the notion that non-whites
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The election of President Abraham Lincoln, and his stance on the slavery debate, led to the immediate secession of South Carolina, and six other states followed by the time Lincoln took office (Brinkley 375). These states seceding from the Union and forming their own nationality, the Confederate States of America, led to one of the most brutal wars in global history. The two sides each had their own strategic advantages and disadvantages. On the Union side in the North, the greatest burden and blessing was that the war would be fought primarily in the southern territory. This was beneficial because it would spare the destruction of war from ravaging the towns and communities in the North, but was a disadvantage because Union soldiers would be fighting on enemy turf. A negative externality stemming from this was that the war was not fought in plain view of Union citizens, and thus it was more difficult to build support and enlist soldiers for the fight (Brinkley 378). In quantifiable terms, the North had twice as much manpower as their counterparts in the South, and four times as much when excluding the slave population (Brinkley 377). In addition, the North had a far more complete railroad system, allowing for greater troop mobility and resource supply (Brinkley 377). From an economic standpoint, the industrial nature of the Union’s economy was favorable to supplying the Union army with proper equipment and supplies, an advantage that the agriculturally dominated Confederacy lacked (Brinkley
The election of President Abraham Lincoln, and his stance on the slavery debate, led to the immediate secession of South Carolina, and six other states followed by the time Lincoln took office (Brinkley 375). These states seceding from the Union and forming their own nationality, the Confederate States of America, led to one of the most brutal wars in global history. The two sides each had their own strategic advantages and disadvantages. On the Union side in the North, the greatest burden and blessing was that the war would be fought primarily in the southern territory. This was beneficial because it would spare the destruction of war from ravaging the towns and communities in the North, but was a disadvantage because Union soldiers would be fighting on enemy turf. A negative externality stemming from this was that the war was not fought in plain view of Union citizens, and thus it was more difficult to build support and enlist soldiers for the fight (Brinkley 378). In quantifiable terms, the North had twice as much manpower as their counterparts in the South, and four times as much when excluding the slave population (Brinkley 377). In addition, the North had a far more complete railroad system, allowing for greater troop mobility and resource supply (Brinkley 377). From an economic standpoint, the industrial nature of the Union’s economy was favorable to supplying the Union army with proper equipment and supplies, an advantage that the agriculturally dominated Confederacy lacked (Brinkley