Monday, October 21, 2013

OK, the Deep South Seceded....now what?



After Lincoln's election and the initial period of secession, the United States entered into a period of limbo where it was not yet known whether they would fight one another, and if so--how long that war would be.  Your readings demonstrate the chaotic nature of this period. 

So the question is, which side was more ready to fight at the beginning of war?  Consider military preparedness/training/leadership, number of recruits, foreign alliances, etc.  How do the New York City draft riots paint a more diverse picture of the North?

8 comments:

  1. The South was more ready to fight at the beginning of war, and actually the South was also the part that caused the war. After Lincoln became the president, the conflicts between the North and the South grew bigger, and dissatisfied emotion spread out in the South population because they lost the balance of power senate. Although both sides were thinking about war, but the South thought about more and took the first step, the South had more recruits and good leaders such as General Lee. I think foreign alliances was more passive because they were kind of changing opinions, depended on whether the South or the North could win the war.
    The New York City draft riots paint a disordered and contradictory picture of the North. At the beginning of the Civil War, the North lost most of the campaigns and paid a lot for its failing, so there were two opinions appeared: continued fighting or stop fighting and have negotiations with the South. Plus that the North needed more people to join the army in order to strengthen military power, and the fee of being our of the army was high, even unacceptable for low-income people, and many free slaves occupied the market... those stimulated the unhappiness in Northern people, and finally caused the riot. In a word, at the beginning of the Civil War, the situation of the North was complex, contradictory, and negative because the North couldn't handle war situation.

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  2. Lincoln, a man usually put up on a pedestal for the efforts to stop slavery from spreading, “ faced unusual problems of transition.” Based on the Union’s population, weapons and goods provided, I believe that he Union was more prepared at the beginning of the war. Unlike the South, the North was industrialized and had a high, dense population and a diverse one too. While the population in the North was 22 million there were only 9 million people in the South and about 4 million of the total 9 million were slaves. The runaway slaves from the South were now going to fight for the North, increasing the North’s already high number of people fighting in the war. To add even more numbers, “some 100,000 men from Southern states fought against the confederacy.” Though the North alternated between military leaders, the one constant was Lincoln, a cunning man willing to do whatever it took to win the war. Going into the Civil war, the Union held 23 states including four border slave states, while the confederacy only held 11. Aside from the numbers, the Union also held the upper hand in transportation. The North had wagons, horses, ships and the impressive railroad system. Unfortunately, for the North, the South did have more experienced military leaders. This could be the reason that the confederacy stayed in the war for four years. On another note, the New York draft riots painted the North as destructive, chaotic, land filled with low- life men and women. “The scum of the city” caused the riots. On the other hand, “this new reign of terror…[run] [by] ruffians,” were not American born.

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  3. After reading the articles "New York City Draft Riots 1863" and "War of the Union Part 1" I have to agree with Lauren that the North was much more ready for the war than the south. The north had a much greater advantage because they were industrialized. This was to their benefit because while the south was running out of weapons and soldiers the north was not because of the constant supply due to industrialization. There was no problem either in receiving the weapons because railroads had been built making transportation much faster. The only benefit the south had was good leaders such as Robert E. Lee, but what would a great leader do without any weapons to fight with? In the 19th century industrialization was very appealing because it was a new way of living and much more effecient as a result the North's population increased tremendously, this gave them many more soldiers to fight with while the south ran out of soldiers quickly. The south did not give up an easy fight, they fought for their way of life which is why the war lasted much longer than expected.

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  4. I feel the North was more prepared for the beginning of the American Civil War. The North unlike the South was more developed and had better technology due to industrialization. For this reason the South had better weapons to fight against the North. Also, the South was still in slave agriculture so they had barely any weapons. The New York City draft riots paint a more diverse picture of the North. The New York City draft riots which took place from July 13–16, 1863. It was known at the time as Draft Week as there were violent disturbances in New York City that were the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that yearly drafted men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. The riots remain the largest civil insurrection in American history outside of the Civil War itself.

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  5. The North had a huge advantage over the south. They had more troops, more money, more railroads, and more firearms. Being industrialized in the North was also a huge advantage because it lead to a constant output of firearms and ammunition while the South ran out. But the South was not completely overmatched. They had home field advantage and had more experienced and capable commanders and generals. This advantages though could not compensate for the huge discrepancy in resources. But I do believe the south was more ready to fight the war because their everyday lives were at stake rather then the Northerners daily lives. The south also had a cause they believed in fully and that was also a factor in the up coming war.

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  6. After reading these two selections, I believe the North was more prepared for the war, despite there set back in New York City with the riots. I understand the steep 300$ fee of avoiding the draft back then. It was need to keep men eligible for war. I also understand why these men women, young adults and even children were upset. 300$ is more then half of the average workers annual salary, how are any of them suppose to come up with that money. I believe that it's not the fact the North was SO prepared for the war but that the South just had a lot more to deal with. The South wasn't only dealing with the the troops from the Northern states. They had enemies within their own territories. The north had a handful of 100,000 man troops in certain areas of the south. The immigrants that did not agree with slavery or had an agricultural background were also against the South. A thousand Texas-Mexicans fought against the South and the South also dealt with the Arkansas Peace Society because the disagreed with secession and the war itself.

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  7. I see both regions as very able to fight the war but the South was more prepared and the North more able. The Confederates had the upper hand many of the times as they could fight a defensive war in their own territory, They even had more experienced military leaders and circumstances gave rise to a strong military tradition in the South: frequent campaigns against the INdians, fear of the slave insurrection, and a history of expansionism. The North, however, had more global allies, more soldiers/people to draft, more supplies and it was a feat the Confederates held them off for 4 years. If not for their many advantages the Union would have won a lot sooner.The New York draft riots act painted the North in a new light as they were not seen as this perfect, morally superior people who looked down on the south for their atrocities; they ripped clothing from orphans and burned the orphanage down with many of them still in it.

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  8. After the reading I am going to agree with Anni, Lauren and Andrew. The North and The south were both prepared for the war. Either one was not more prepared or less prepared. They were both headstrong and wanted to go into battle for their own different reasons. Though the North had more of an advantage because they had more of an industrialized nation, whereas the South was not big on industrialization and seemed as if their way of sustaining anything would be through slaves and nothing else. The slaves were somehow a life support for the South. An advantage to the South would be Robert E. Lee who was a phenomenal leader for the South.

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