Why did the Confederate states lose the Civil War?

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Why did the Confederate states lose the Civil War?

The Confederate states fought for their secession for four years, yet they still eventually lost, and there is much debate why, and whether it was an inevitable defeat.

One of the most important reasons was sheer numbers. The North’s superiority in manpower and resources was vital to their victory. Lincoln had at his disposal a population of 22,000,000, compared with a Southern population of 9,000,000, which included 3,500,000 slaves whom they dared not arm. Although some people from Northern states fought for the Confederacy, an equal number of Southerners fought for the North. Four slave states also remained loyal to the Union which was a great help to the North. Throughout the war there was a steady stream of black people to the North to fight for the Union.

Lincoln said, ‘If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it’, indicating that slaves were unimportant to the cause he was fighting for. Yet they proved to be a great advantage to the Union, as many escaped during the war to the North, and subsequently fought for the Union. By the end of the war, there were almost as many blacks against the South, as there were whites against the North.

In terms of resources, the Union advantage was huge - New York alone produced manufactures of a value four times greater than the total Southern output; the North had almost total control on heavy industries e.g. coal, iron, woollens, armaments, shipyards, machine shops - all were plentiful in the North and scarce in the South. The Union had twice the density of railroads, and several times the mileage well-surfaced roads. Most shipping was carried out in Northern vessels, and the South had few shipyards, and only one machine shop capable of building an engine for a respectable warship.

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It was very hard to transport troops, supplies and munitions. The South also had only two main east-west railroads, which were run by over 100 different companies, and gauges differed from place to place. They had no locomotive railway manufacturers, and could not therefore replace damaged tracks or equipment. 97% of USA firearms were in the North, and as the main ports were in the North, no cotton could be exported to pay for munitions for the South.

As the North grew 80% of the oats and wheat in the US and had more cows, sheep and horses, the Union ...

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