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?
The North had a huge advantage over the south. They had more troops, more money, more railroads, and more firearms. But the South was not completely overmatched. They had home field advantage and had more experienced and capable commanders and generals. This advantages though could not compensate for the huge discrepancy in resources though. The fact that riots happened did not surprise me, most people probably would not want to fight what they viewed as a black man's war. But how violent and brutal they were really surprised me.
ReplyDeleteThe North had a very distinguishable advantage over the south in terms of raw military strength. Regarding deployable personnel, armaments, ammunition, transportation, trade routes. The south should not be counted out yet; because the south had one (with several branches or sub sections) advantage over the North: Better, more efficient commanders/generals, and better strategy. The importance of this is proven by the south who gave the North with all it's advantages a concerningly close run-for-its-money. But don't underestimate the North's seemingly overwhelming advantages. As these certainly did not count for nothing as they did end up winning the war. If not by sheer brute force. Which their resources allowed them to do. While strategy is one of the most important military assets it alone cannot win you a war. The riots aren't all too unexpected, due to most of the army being white and not wanting to fight what they saw as mostly a black man's war.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of riots does not surprise me at all. Imagine how people would react now if our country was in the midsts of a Civil War. There would be an absolute outrage. I think on paper the Union was obviously a much stronger force. They had more factories to produce guns and weaponry and they had railroads for stronger transportation. The Confederacy obviously was underrated. Most of the war was of course fought in the South, so the idea of "home-field advantage" turned out to be helpful in their favor. The New York riots bring to light the amount of people that felt unfairly involved in a "black man's war".
ReplyDeleteThe main advantage for the Northern States was Industrialization. Their technical progress help them a lot in the battlefield. For the Southeners the war was the reason for a further industrial development, which had been very limited so far. Besides, they didn't have as much troupes as the North and a lot of people in the Southern states rather supported the Union.
ReplyDeleteBut both article show that Lincoln took drastic steps to make the northern victory sure. At first, he appealed on volunteers to subdue the “rebellion” (probably he didn't believed at this time that it would get so serious) and later he instituted conscription and suspended the writ of habeas corpus, so he could take Confederate supporter out of the picture easily.
I think that the north was the obvious choice if someone was beting on the out come of the civil war, but the south had one thing the north didn't have, which was that the southerners were fighting for their way of life. The north had more troops, more money, more means of transportation, and many other things that the south lacked, but the mindset of both armies was very different. the mind set of the north can be seen in the New York Draft riots and how so many people didn't want to fight in a war they saw as not their own or a black man's war. the south was fighting for how they lived everyday. the north wasn't changing as drastically as the south. the whole southern way of life was being cut out of the country and tossed aside. The ability of the generals and leaders of the south's armies was also superior to the north's, but the north was able to "outlast" the south's material suplies. to answer the question, i believe the south was more ready to fight the war because their everyday lives were at stake rather then the Northerners daily lives. The south also had a cause they believed in fully and that was also a factor in the up coming war.
ReplyDeleteI think that the north had the advantage just for sheer lack of money. They were better off and with that money came the power of weapons. But on the contrary, the south had some great historic leaders like Robert e lee and Nathan Bedford forest who were devoted to this war and would do anything in their power to win.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there were draft riots really wasn't unusual. I know personally I wouldn't want to go to war so I would probably be in that crowd. But what really got me was the brutality of the riots. As Mitch put it, these riots shed a light on the amount of people that felt they were apart of "a black mans war".
Protests and riots are very common when there are drafts. There were for Vietnam WW2 etc. they're not uncommon, however the extremes which Ms. Dickinson describes are decidedly rare. When you have 'professional ruffians' running around the streets in your city/town you know that there is a problem and it needs to be solved. Soon. These riots are very important because they show that the stereotype of the nice, abolitionist northerner whose hand was forced was wrong. The people she described were awful opportunists of the worst kind.
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious to me that the North was much more prepared to fight at the beginning of the Civil War. As has already been mentioned, they had a superior economy, better technology, and almost double the amount of soldiers. This made them heavy favourites for the outcome of the war.
ReplyDeleteHowever, like Mikey said, the Southerners were fighting for their way of life. This is very important because they were a lot more passionate about the war than the Northerners who believed they were fighting a war that they had no reason to be involved in.
I think that although the north did have the financial advantage, the south's experience in warfare made them difficult to beat. However, the north gained more support as many 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"; many were German/Irish immigrants who did not favor slavery. The NYC Draft Riots is a great example of peoples' hatred towards being drafted, and the only way to avoid it was to pay a very high fee. The violence surprised me; "Lists, records, books, the drafting-wheel, every article of furniture or work in the room was rent in pieces, and strewn about the floor or flung into the street..."
ReplyDeleteI think that at the beginning of the war the South was more ready to fight than the north. Of course there are many obvious advantages that the north had such as industrialization, transportation, and population, but I believe things do not affect the willingness to fight at the beginning of the war. This just happens to aid the north to win during the war. I think the South had more passion because they had something to fight for. The article states that "the outcome of the war was jot inevitable: it was determined as much by human decisions and by human willpower as by human resources. They were fighting on their own turf with their own men who all have passions of protecting the Confederacy. This strength in morality gives the South a strong advantage in the beginning even if it is not as visible as the Union's advantages.
ReplyDeleteI have not thought about that there would be soldiers are not willing to fight the civil war before just because they thought it is a black man's war; also their extreme action really surprised me that they would really go that far. Industrialization and vitality of the North made them gained strong arms,high capability of transformation and dollars filled full of pocket. Compare to the north, i think south was completely underrated because they have got well trained officers and the game was on their own turf, and those two factors may be the reason that north was not doing well at all at the beginning of the war of black man.
ReplyDeleteThe North had obvious advantages in manufacturing wartime supplies. While the South had tremendous training and leadership, they greatly lacked in supplies, food, etc. I think that the South was more willing to fight the civil war. They had a culture, lifestyle, and a new nation to protect. While they weren't as equipped as the North, they were far more willing. The New York draft riots were a testament to how the Northerners were reluctant to fight against the South. I think that the most effective strategy that the North had during the Civil War was waiting for the South's supplies to run dry. Had the North been eager and quick to move, they would have been greatly outplayed by the masterful generals of the South. While the North wanted to keep the Union together, the people did not want to die solely because the rebels wanted independence. The North was divided in this way.
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