To What Extent was the victory of the North in the United States Civil War due to its superior industrial resources and manpower?

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To What Extent was the victory of the North in the United States Civil War due to its superior industrial resources and manpower?

Faraz Ahmed pd:3

The civil war was like hell broke loose on earth. Many deaths and casualties occurred during this time period with endless blood battles. After the North and the South separated and became rivals, conflicts broke out between the two that played a role in damaging each side. Due to the differences in economy between the North and the South, the North had an upper hand. The North gained victory in the Civil war due to its Massive industrial resources with manpower and most importantly the turning point, the Battle of Gettysburg.

The advantages of the North guided them through their industrial resources and manpower to over come challenges and win the civil war. The Union outweighed the Confederacy in almost every way. Nearly 21 million people lived in 23 Northern states. The South claimed just 9 million people including 3.5 million slaves in 11 confederate states. Despite the North's greater population, however, the South had an army almost equal in size during the first year of the war. The Confederacy had only one-ninth the industrial capacity of the Union. But that statistic was misleading. In 1860, the North manufactured 97 percent of the country's firearms, 96 percent of its railroad locomotives, 94 percent of its cloth, 93 percent of its pig iron, and over 90 percent of its boots and shoes. The North had twice the density of railroads per square mile. There was not even one rifle works in the entire South. The population of the army in the North played a good role because it had men to replace the wounded and dead. Someone always on the battlefield helped the North gain majority of the victories because of the large amount of men.  Having such great manufacturing industries, the North was never short of a weapon because of the rapid production rate. The railroads tremendously helped the North in transporting weapons, men and ammunition. Because of the long distances and the amount it took to travel by foot, railroad would cut it more than half. This allowed the North to be prepared for attacks and always had resources under their hand for use. McPherson argued that south had the upper hand and they were playing offence, but still lost. South fought on their land and was suppose to protect it. Leading back to the cause, North’s industrial innovations and transportation efficiencies, the south lost and wasn’t able to keep up.

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        One of the fierce battles that took place during the Civil War and was claimed the turning point was the Battle of Gettysburg, which ultimately aided the North to victory. This marked the highest point of Confederate power. It was General Lee's last invasion of the North and the first indisputable defeat for the Confederacy. The North saw that South took losses that they could no longer afford. It also saw a change in attitude for the North, they knew they could handle more losses than the South, and so they began a war of erosion. After loosing many ...

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