ipl-logo

Civil War Technology Essay

901 Words4 Pages

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

Show More
Related
841 Words | 4 Pages

Some of the technological inventions that impacted the civil war were things such as the repeating rifle a.k.a the Spencer repeating rifle, the ironclad, and the Gatling gun. The Spencer repeating rifle was used during the American civil war but didn’t replace the standard muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at that time. However, these weapons could fire more than one bullet before needing to reload. That made these guns were more efficient and dangerous. Like many other Civil War technologies, these weapons were available to Northern troops but not Southern ones because southern factories had neither the equipment nor the know-how to produce them which shows just how vital these technological advances were in winning the war.

Read More
1201 Words | 5 Pages

The development of railroads was perhaps the most significant transportation development of the period. Prior to the Civil War, there were only around 30,000 miles of railroad track in the United States, but by 1900 that number had grown to over 200,000 miles (White,

Read More
490 Words | 2 Pages

The North had a far better economy than the south, with about twice as many soldiers, factories benefited the North’s economy rather than the South, increasing tensions between the two regions. Southerners relied on their plantations and slaves to work on them, so the fact that the Northerners wanted to take away their slaves just pushed the South to the edge. By 1860 the North had over twice the amount of railroads as the South; despite the fact that the South had a larger population due to slaves (Doc A). The mass amounts of railroads in the North upheld the large amounts of deliveries between factories. While the North was mostly industrial and the South was more agricultural.

Read More
1094 Words | 5 Pages

Advancements in Weaponry Throughout America’s history of war, weaponry has played a major factor in conflict. Weapons were improved for the benefit of the American soldiers. Since American war instruments have been improved in technology, the U.S was able to exceed over their opponents in war from the Colonial Era to the Antebellum Era. The usage of improved weaponry was a major advantage for the United States.

Read More
952 Words | 4 Pages

On April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired the first shots on Fort Sumter and began what would be the start of one of America’s deadliest battles, the Civil War. Although the official war started in 1861. There had been ongoing economic, political, and social conflicts in the states for decades well before the war started. As the Civil War is commonly acknowledged as a war fought over the issue of slavery, several other factors such as dissimilarities between the North and South’s industrial advancement, the infamous Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the differentiated views on what freedom is between African American and white citizens. These were vital elements to the reason behind the Civil War.

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

After the railroad lines had been built out west changes occurred for both the Western and Eastern United States. By 1860 railroads connected nearly every major city and over 80 percent of farms were 5 miles from the railroad. It was easier and faster to transport goods such as; lumber, grain, corn, etc. to the Eastern United States. Farming changed with railroads because farmers could put their products and animals on the trains and make money. Within the first 10 years of completion the railroad had shipped over $50 million in goods.

Read More
2925 Words | 12 Pages

During the era before Civil War, there were different serious problems that lied under the surface of the society, which caused the gap between the North and the South to expand throughout time. Within the United States of America, both sides disagreed on each other’s economic resources, political ideas, and perspectives about the issues among slavery. Due to these disagreements, many compromises and negotiations were introduced in order to unite the North and the South, and to prohibit them from becoming more segregated. Despite the effort of these compromises, none of the issues was being correctly and completely solved either by the federal government or by the current president of that time.

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

The precursor to the Civil War was the 1840s, a turbulent time in which the Mexican American War occurred. America was the victor of the war, but a great debate surrounded the territories gained by this war; were they to be slave states or free states? Abolitionists led great movements against them becoming slavery, while slave owners saw it as a chance to further profit. The unrest from this contributed to the great animosity between most Northerners and Southerners in America that continued to grow and boil until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Leading up to the war there was session by many Southern states that formed the Confederacy with Jefferson Davis as president.

Read More
839 Words | 4 Pages

Between 1860 and 1877 the Civil War began, presenting the people and politicians of the United States with a great number of constitutional challenges, which had been mounting for decades. Despite the efforts made, many changes in social conditions remained unjust and were disregarded. The constitutional changes that occurred contributed to a revolution but did not directly connect to any revolutionary social developments. The constitutional changes that occurred were far more revolutionary than social developments, through their changes in states’ rights, African Americans rights, and the federal government's influence in the social sphere.

Read More
1475 Words | 6 Pages

As a result, the economy overall became stronger, and they made a large profit. Railroads were the very first pieces of technology to have a major impact on the American economy ("Railroads in the Civil War" 42). Rails transported an unheard of amount of troops and supplies while also introducing the first ironclad railcars, which could carry lots of artillery and massive weapons. As a result, even current militaries in the United States use these types of railcars. If it weren't for the Secretary of War Stanton and his idea of railroads, the Union would have had a slimmer chance of succeeding in their final victory.

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

In the early to mid 1800s, there were debates between political parties, social groups, people with different ways of life, and more. The goal of these debates varied from wanting to get laws passed, wanting certain taboos to be eliminated, or just wanting to be left alone. However, these debates always sought to get the other side to agree, which almost never happened. In the 1830 to 1860 era, debates over slavery weren’t the most important factors that led to the Civil War. The most significant factors that led to the American Civil War were political, economic, and social issues of the time; the debates over slavery, at this time, were not the most important things that people of that era had to worry about.

Read More
1531 Words | 7 Pages

Innovative ideas and technologies in transportation significantly impacted the America during, and after the Civil War. The Civil War was also drastically changed due to the amazing discoveries and innovations in transportation. Railroads were what was mainly used to supply America with munitions, troops, food, and etc. during the Civil War. America benefited from the invention of the railroad due to the ease of use for every American.

Read More
791 Words | 4 Pages

The War Between the States was one of America’s greatest wars—it was the fight for freedom, but it also impacted the economy. Because of this, America’s labor and transportation systems both took a significant turn during the Civil War, impacting America’s economy forever. In the end, the American Civil War greatly benefitted our transportation system, but devastated the South’s labor force. For a war to be fought strategically well, there first must be a form of simple, yet speedy, transportation. That is where the transcontinental railroad came in.

Read More
1019 Words | 5 Pages

Introduction Technology and war are closely related as it shapes the strategies adopted by nations and also influence the outcome of the war . Technological advancements are also driven by war due to the perceived needs to stay ahead and stay relevant in the new era so as to provide a technological edge against potential adversaries2. Although technology employed during war does provide an advantage against potential adversaries, however, it does not always result in a decisive advantage or victory in war. As demonstrated during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the US who are armed with far superior technology advantages over the Viet Cong (VC) forces had failed to capitalise on it to win a decisive war. As a result, the US fought a long and costly

Read More
558 Words | 3 Pages

Railroads served to support the armies by defending soldiers from attacks of enemies. According to John Elwood Clark in the article Railroads in the Civil War states, “Soldiers before the Civil War thought of interior lines in terms of space, or distance, although geography sometimes conferred an additional advantage. The Civil War began to modify the concept, increasingly framing the advantage in terms of time, as railroads and steamboats improved travel speed and freight loads; today’s soldiers call it ‘‘superior lateral communications. ’’(Clark 28) Railroads improved war efforts significantly by conveniencing soldiers

Read More

More about Civil War Technology Essay

Related Topics

Open Document