Monday, October 21, 2013

OK, the Deep South Seceded....now what?




After Lincoln's election and the initial period of secession, the United States entered into a period of limbo where it was not yet known whether they would fight one another, and if so--how long that war would be.  Your readings demonstrate the chaotic nature of this period. 

So the question is, which side was more ready to fight at the beginning of war?  Consider military preparedness/training/leadership, number of recruits, foreign alliances, etc.  How do the New York City draft riots paint a more diverse picture of the North?

13 comments:

  1. I believe that the Union army was much more strong than the Confederacy because they had more factories, which meant more and better weapons, more money, they had railroads which helped for better transportations and they were more united, organized and developed. However the Confederacy was such a strong army too because they had really good and more capable generals and commanders that could bring them more confidence and leadership and they were also more motivated.
    I am not surprised about the riots because people obviously didn't want to fight and risk their lives and as the text says, northerns were most of them white and they didn't want to "spend their time" and risk their lives in what they saw a "black man's war". What really surprised me was the brutality and violence of these riots.

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  2. The north had a lot more advantages over the south, they had way more everything you can think of from money to troops they had way more then the south. But the south was very well prepared with good generals and they had the advantage of being in the south of knowing the landscape. but if had to pick the union was more prepared but it does not surprise me that the new york City riots took place because if the united states was in a civil war I know for a fact there would be riots everywhere.

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  3. The South started off stronger in the beginning. I think this because they had better generals and better background knowledge. As chandler said, they knew the area very well. They were able to prepare themselves easier because they knew all of this. The South was stronger because they had more supplies and a stronger army to start. The men fighting had better tactics because the generals gave them good ideas and ways of fighting. The North became stronger as the war went on, as they began to know and familiarize themselves with the terrain. The number of recruits was a lot less for the North than for the South. The South was all around more ready and prepared to fight than the North and it really showed at the beginning of the War when the South came out way stronger than the North.

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  4. I agree with tina that the south started off stronger in the beginning because they not only had better generals but they had a larger population that was willing and ready to fight. Also, like chandler mentioned the south new the area unlike the North, which was a large advantage. Also, everyone in the south was ready to help in the war in any way they could. While the South started off strong the North ended up gaining the upperhand. After being captured, people were also forced to join confederate army, which also led to the North having less soldiers. The confederates became a lost cause at one point because they had a smaller pool of able bodied men and a "spotty transportation network"

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  5. I believe the North had many more physical advantages before the war. They had more factories, military leaders, and foot soldiers than the South did. However, I believe the North was the least prepared to fight. The reading tells of draft riots and other conflicts that occurred during the time period between the secession and the war. The South, I believe, did have a stronger cause; they were fighting to defend their new country and their old way of life.

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  6. I think that the North posed a bigger threat than the South. The North really had it together: economically, industrially, etc, but i think that the South was more prepared for war than the North. The South had very strong generals and leaders within the army that the North lacked. The South had a larger army that was more willing to fight to win than the North, who as Laura said, saw it as a "black man's war" and therefore felt superior to it being that the majority of the Northern population was white. All of this being said, the North was much more organized than the South and had more of a plan going into in than the South who seemed to just go in and do whatever necessary to maintain their way of life. The riots themselves do not surprise me because there is often riots during political turmoil but what was interesting was the severity of these riots especially for the time that they took place.

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  7. I believe that economically the North was much more prepared than the South was for war. Their economy had a strong foundation because it was based on factory work, not on slave labor. The North was a producer of goods made by man/ machine like guns, artillary, ect. Not to mention that they had a larger population and there fore had more soilders. This made them much more prepared for the war than the South who's economy was based off of physical slave work on natural materials, because of this they stood the most to lose if they lost the war. However, this fact made the South strong in a way that the North wasn't, they had a cause to fight for, a reason to go into war with excitement and a form of push behind them.

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  8. The North had the advantages that would come in handy in a long slow war, they were able to outlast the South. But in the beginning of the war, the South was more ready to fight. The Confederacy had far superior and more experienced leaders, such as General Lee. They also had geography on their side, the Southerners were fighting a defensive campaign on their own turf. They were fighting to protect their land which surely inspired them to fight harder, and they knew the land better so they had the advantage over invading "Yankees." The Federal government on the other hand had to deal with enlistment strikes in New York that resembled strikes against the Vietnam war. Many Northerners were clearly not as driven to fight a war as the Southerners were. Of course, the North's huge population and industrialized economy allowed it to ultimately be victorious against the South in the Civil war.

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  10. The north and the south both had their advantages. In the north there was more industry and therefore more supplies which contributes tremendously to how successful they are. Although the south only had raw materials to work from and not as much industry, they had more experience within their ranks, which also gives way to added confidence, and therefore were able to fight better. Kind of like what zion was saying about the south having more of a cause. The riots in new york bring up an interesting topic that the war is a "black man's war". It makes sense that there would be riots somewhere america over this and i think it just happened to be that new york was enough of a melting point at this point in history that all the mixed point of views would cause such an uprest.

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  11. I'd say that the south had more advantages than the North in the beginning of the war. People in the South were willing to fight with the North to defend their slavery when the Northerner drafted riots in New York City. However, by the time goes on and on, the Union has gain more states than the Confederacy, almost three times more. Some South men still have the loyalty to the Union. Then the North gain more advantages, from the strong transportation network they have, industries production and the South at the same time were short on food supply on many places. Although confederacy had really good military leader in the beginning, by the end of the war, Lincoln also had strong military leaders. With other advantages, that's probably why the Union won the war.

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  12. In the beginning of the war I think that the south was more ready to fight compared to the north because the south had experience in warfare. Also some of the southerners gave their support to the north because many of them were immigrants who did not agree with slavery even if they lived in the south. Some southerners made great sacrifices to remain loyal to the Union." Whole regiments were established to fight for the union in every Confederate state except South Carolina! It was very rare that a southern loyalist "embraced the Confederate cause”. Also the north had the advantage of industrialization over the south because the north had the transportation and businesses that the south did not have. Overall the south had more of a cause to fight for because their life style/ way of living was at stake and they would do anything to protect it. The war took place in the south, which was an advantage for the Confederacy making it seem as though the north has no chance of winning.

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  13. In my opinion, in the beginning of the war, South was more prepared to fight the civil war against the North. Not only did South have a better trained, experianced Army, the leader of the Confederates were renown for their leadership. The fact that South had General Lee, who was trained from one of the best military school in the States West Point examplifies the point. Plus, South was fighting in their own land. Not only did this motivate them to fight for their own cause, but they had an advantage of knowing their geography. However, on the other hand, North not only did have a poorly trained military leader, a riot happened in new york which disrupted the North from focusing entirely on the war.

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