"The Union’s Resources"

Mackayla Harris

What was one advantage the North had over the South during the Civil War? Before deciding on writing about the Civil War, I had never given it much thought. After some research, it was not hard to see some of the advantages the North had over the South. Their advantages are what I believe pushed them to win the war. After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1861, the Southern slave states seceded from the nation and formed the Confederacy. The North became the Union. The war began in 1861. It all started when Confederate warships bombarded Union Soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The majority of the fighting took place in the states of Virginia and Tennessee. The North had many advantages over the South. However, I believe the biggest advantage they had was their superior resources.

Industry is one of their resources that the South did not have. The factories and industries provided the North with the much needed war materials. The article, “Strengths and Weaknesses:North vs. South”, states that in 1860, “the North manufactured 97 percent of the countries firearms, 96 percent of the countries railroad locomotives, 94 percent of its cloth, 93 percent of its pig iron, and over 90 percent of its boots and shoes."  Industries gave the North the advantage. The North always had plenty of guns and ammo. The North was the main supplier of guns. It became hard for the South to get new ones. They had to make do with what they had before the war began. The lack of firearms greatly impacted the South.

Another resource that the North had was their transportation network. According to"Letters, Telegrams, and Photographs Illustrating Factors that Affected the Civil War", the North had “a better transportation network, mainly highways, canals, and railroads, which could be easily used to resupply military forces in the field."  The North had twice as many railroads per square mile compared to the South. The North was much more capable of transporting their manufactured war supplies to their armies. It was also their way of getting food to the soldiers.

The North was also in control of the Navy. The article "Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South", states that " Since the North controlled the navy, the seas were in the hands of the Union.” All of the main ingredients in gunpowder during this time were imported from overseas. The North could easily use the navy to block any incoming ships from bringing more supplies to the South. When the blockades would happen, it would tremendously hurt the South.

I believe that the advantage of the North's superior resources is what helped them win the war. With the end of the Civil War came the opening of the Thirteenth Amendment. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. It also led to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed that no American would be denied the right to vote based on race. The Civil War changed a lot of ideas in the United States.