What Were The Factors That Lead The Victory Of The Union What Changes Essay

What Were The Factors That Lead The Victory Of The Union What Changes After 1862 Affected The War's End - Essay Example In this regard, Lee believed that the Confederacy did not lose the war because they fought badly, but blamed it on the high number of guns and men in the Unions’ favour. However, not all historians believe that the Union’s superiority was the sole cause that led to the Confederate’s defeat. There were several evident advantages that led to the victory by the Union. Foremost, the advantage of numbers was one that the Union possessed. To this end, the Union had 22 million soldiers compared to the 9 million soldiers of the South (McPherson & Hogue 68). Furthermore, out of the 9 million Southern soldiers, the south had only 5.5 million white soldiers. The North equally possessed and advanced industrial capacity compared to the South. In this regard, the Northern states were the greatest producers of USA’s firearms which stood at 97 percent by 1860(McPherson & Hogue 45). Moreover, they were also producing the highest number of pig iron which stood at 94 percent . The North equally possessed an advantage in the agricultural sector. Interestingly, the Confederate army hoped to rectify its deficit of resources by engaging in trade with Europe. However, the Union counter-acted this effort through its naval superiority which put up a tight blockade. There was equally the support and loyalty for the Union by the four slave states. These were Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland and Missouri. In contrast, the 11 Confederate states did not exhibit the same union and loyalty as the northern states in relation to the war (McPherson & Hogue 72). In this regard, the Confederacy suffered from resistance by pockets of Unionist loyalists in areas such as the Appalachian Mountains. The slaves equally exhibited the threat of a potential fifth column. This was evident during the course of the war as black slaves from the Confederacy were constantly fleeing and taking up arms with the Union armies. Another advantage was that the Northern States had innovatively conv erted the labour and military manpower into a key asset for the Union. The decline in morale by the Confederate army was another factor that contributed to their loss. This decline of morale or will power was largely attributed to the fading possibility of victory at a Manassas as well as collapse from internal stresses. Moreover, the failure by the Confederacy to exhibit a strong sense of nationalism contributed to their failure. The Confederate government equally held blame towards their failure by mismanaging their finances and economy. To this end, the Confederate government printed too much money which propagated inflation and consequently led to economic degradation and decline of the Southern morale. However, it should be noted that inflation was unavoidable owing to the Union’s strategy in effecting blockades. It is critical to point out that the in 1861; the Southern Confederacy army was poised to win the war owing to its territorial advantage that stood at 750,000 s quare miles (McPherson & Hogue 93). In this regard, the territorial asset posed a challenge to the Union in terms of blockade, occupation and conquest. In this regard, the smart military decision by the South was to avoid the option of attack but adopt a defensive mechanism. Moreover, by adopting a defensive tactic, the Southerners would have had the advantage of firepower by their rifle musketeers. Consequently, the Union would have been compelled to attack but destined to suffer extreme casualties. In this regard, the Southerners hoped that the massive causalities would