Economic and Industrial Power
- The Union’s superior industrial capacity played a decisive role: it produced far more weapons, ammunition, railroads, and supplies than the agrarian South.
- The North’s naval blockade crippled the Confederate economy, cutting off cotton exports and foreign imports, which led to severe shortages and inflation in the South.
- The Confederacy’s dependence on slave labor and agriculture limited its ability to adapt to the demands of modern, industrialized warfare.
Political and Military Leadership
- Abraham Lincoln’s leadership unified the North around the twin goals of preserving the Union and, later, ending slavery. His ability to manage political factions and inspire confidence gave the Union a clear sense of purpose.
- The Confederacy suffered from weak central authority under Jefferson Davis, whose emphasis on states’ rights hindered coordination, taxation, and troop mobilization.
- The Union’s later military leadership, especially Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, embraced total war strategies that exhausted Confederate manpower and morale.
Definition
Jefferson Davis
The President of the Confederate States of America (1861–1865), who led the South during the Civil War and symbolized the defense of states’ rights and slavery.
The Role of Foreign Relations
- The Confederacy hoped for diplomatic recognition and military support from Britain and France, based on their dependence on Southern cotton.
- However, the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) reframed the war as a fight against slavery, making it politically impossible for European powers to back the Confederacy.
- Britain and France also feared economic and military repercussions from the Union and found alternative cotton suppliers in Egypt and India, effectively isolating the Confederacy diplomatically.
