5.8 Civil War - Factors Contributing to Union Victory

The video addresses the prompt: What were the various factors that contributed to the Union victory in the Civil War?
It was not a foregone conclusion that the Union would win the war, as both sides possessed significant advantages.

Defensive War: The South only needed to defend its own territory, not invade the North.
Military Leadership: The South had more experienced military generals such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

Population: The North had a significantly larger population, about four times that of the South.
Naval Power: The North possessed a strong navy that controlled the seas and rivers.
Economic Strength: The North had most of the nation's banks, manufacturing, and about 70% of the railroads.
Established Government: The North had a well-established central government.

Both the Union and Confederacy had to mobilize their economies to fight the war.
Northern manufacturers, including future industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, increased production.
The South struggled financially due to Union naval blockades and resistance to centralized taxation.

Confederacy: Faced resistance to war taxes due to states' rights principles.
Union: Experienced opposition, such as the New York City draft riots in 1863 caused by the ability to pay $300$ to avoid draft responsibilities, seen as unjust by the working class.

The war began after Confederate forces fired on Union suppliers at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

The Confederacy initially had success, exemplified by the First Battle of Bull Run where Confederate reinforcements under Stonewall Jackson routed Union troops.

Union (Anaconda Plan): Blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy.
Confederacy: Relied on foreign help, especially from Britain and France, due to their dependence on Southern cotton (King Cotton), but Britain and France found alternative sources.

Improvements in leadership and strategy, key battle victories, and wartime destruction of the South's infrastructure led to the Union's success.

Union Leadership: Lincoln found capable generals like Ulysses S. Grant who relentlessly pursued the Confederates.
Emancipation Proclamation (1862): Lincoln declared all enslaved people free in Confederate states as of January 1, 1863.
- The Emancipation Proclamation did not liberate enslaved people in the five border states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia) that were not in rebellion, where he had the authority to do so.
- The Proclamation changed the scope of the war to include the eradication of slavery.
  - Enslaved people escaped to Union lines and some fought for the Union.
  - Prevented Britain and France from supporting the South because they had abolished slavery themselves.

Battle of Vicksburg: The Union gained control of the Mississippi River under General Grant, splitting the Confederacy.

Sherman's March to the Sea: After capturing Atlanta, General William Tecumseh Sherman destroyed railroads and implemented a scorched earth policy from Atlanta to Savannah, devastating the South's ability to sustain the war.

Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, ending the war.