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Civil War Technology Essay

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War has always been a significant part of human history. Especially through warfare, technology has dictated the outcomes and therefore is an important factor in the history of mankind’s wars. Historically, American conflicts resulted in technology improving drastically. Conflicts such as the American Civil War, World War I, and World War II were heavily influenced by both detrimental and beneficial technological advancements. However, these wars had both good and bad consequences such as the effect of nuclear weapons, advanced Medicine, and an overall feeling of cynicism and distrust. Regarding the Civil War, improves weapons designs, such as rifling, caused it to be the deadliest American conflict. Additionally, world war one was the first …show more content…

These modes of transportation offered new ways to spy on the enemy, transport troops, and move supplies. According to the article, Civil War Technology, “Union spies floated above Confederate encampments and battle lines in hydrogen-filled passenger balloons, sending reconnaissance information back to their commanders via telegraph” (Staff 2010). New modes of transportation such as hydrogen balloons gave the Union a serious advantage over the Confederates who were unable to mass-produce such items. An even larger advantage the Union had was the availability of railroads. This is evident through the fact that while the South did have nine thousand miles of railroad track, the North had an astonishing twenty-two thousand miles. In addition to having more tracks to transport goods and people, the Union also had a majority of the factories, which produced the tracks and locomotives. Furthermore the Unions use of “standard gauge”, a set standard for compatibility between any train car and track, made it so Union trains could travel wherever they needed to go. In contrast, Confederate tracts were not standardized so passengers and cargo had to be unloaded and reloaded onto separate trains, which meant more time and money needed to be spent (Staff

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