Confederacy\'s Loss of the Civil War: Social,

¶ … Confederacy's Loss of the Civil War: Social, Political, and Economic Factors

The Confederacy lost the Civil War due to a number of political, social, and economic factors. To begin, the Confederacy was depending on an alliance with Europe; however, European countries had no interests in becoming involved in a North American war which would have damaged their own armed forces (Current 1998). Furthermore, the Confederacy had far fewer resources. The Union had a virtual monopoly on heavy industries; coal, iron, woollens, armaments, shipyards, machine shops, all of which were scarce in the South. As well, Union infrastructure was far greater, with twice the density of railroads, and several times the mileage of canals and well-surfaced roads. In terms of the South, they had only one machine shop capable of building an engine for a respectable warship. Another resource that the South lacked was manpower (21 million to 9 million). Although the South had plenty of weapons by the end of the war, they did not have enough men to use them. Thus, the lack of European recognition combined with a lack of resources meant that the Confederacy was out powered by the Union.

The Confederacy had only one great army commander, Robert E. Lee whereas the Union had several such as Ulysses Grant, William Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and George Thompson (Current 1998). Furthermore, armies in the South did not win enough victories to sustain morale in the Confederacy or Depress morale in the Union.

Another factor leading to the Confederacy's loss was Abraham Lincoln's determination to win (Current 1998). As long as the Union was behind him he would not back down. In addition, he passed the Emancipation Proclamation which allowed blacks in the Union to join the war, strengthening their manpower 3.5 million. Furthermore, this removed a substantial portion of the Confederates labour force as many black slaves crossed over to Union territory to join the war efforts and fight for their freedom. It has also been said that Abraham Lincoln was a stronger war president than Jefferson Davis and offered a much better explanation to his people about what they were fighting for. This created a more united government and people on the Union's side. By the latter half of the war, leaders of the Union military had devised a coherent strategy which involved destroying Confederate armies and their resources to wage war. Davis on the other hand was a far better military man than a politician. He let his ego get in the way of good judgement and some of his decisions appeared to have been motivated by personal preference rather than strategic reasoning. Conversely, Lincoln was willing to overlook personal differences for the sake of the Union.