During the civil war there were many advantages for the North and the South. I will talk about those advantages in the following essay. I will write about the political, social, economic, and demographic advantages. On paper the north had the advantage in almost every way, including the fact that the north had 17.5 million more people than the south. However, the south still had almost the same sized army during the first year of the war (Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South). The North had a major industrial advantage as well. At the beginning of the war the south had 1/9 the industrial capacity of the Union. The Union also manufactured 97% of the countries firearms, 96% of its railroad locomotives, 94% of its cloth, 93% of its pig iron, and over 90% of its boot and shoes (Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South). The north had twice the density of railroads per square mile, aslo. This meant that the Union had the …show more content…
Seven of the eight military colleges were in the south. The south also proved to be very resourceful. At the end of the war the Confederates had established armories and foundries in several states . The south built giant gunpowder mills and melted down thousands of churches for bronze to make cannons. They were also fighting for their way of life they didn’t know another way. Unlike the North, the South was defending and fighting in their own territory (Strengths and Weaknesses: North vs. South). This was their greatest advantage because they new the terrain, where to go and where not to go, and what dangers there were. This was an important advantage because being on your home turf gives you a significantly greater chance of winning battles. The Confederates also stayed right where they were which meant that they weren’t exhausted from marching. Their game plan was to tire the north’s soldiers out by making them have to come all the way to the south and still have to fight the