The Civil War by the Numbers

    The civil war remains to this day as one of the most bloody and costly wars fought by the United States. This was to be somewhat suspected, however, as the only lives that were lost on either side of the battlefield were American. The war began with the southerns states finally proclaiming that they had had enough of the laws and regulations that the north was trying to create, most of which dealt with the long fought over topic of slavery and the rights of the slave. When you compare the resources that each side had at its disposal during the war, many people wonder how it is possible that the south lasted even a week against the far larger and more prepared northern states. As can be viewed from the info graph above, the north led the US in railroad mileage, number of industrial workers and number of manufacturing plants. Seemingly the only advantage the south had was they possessed a vast majority of the slaves in the US and the south controlled the cotton trade which is not on the info graph, but the south did in fact control 100% of the United States cotton industry.
    The south did have one advantage however; the fact that the wartime success of the south did not rely on taking land from the north, but only on defending their own land from the northerners who believed it should once again be rejoined as the United States. This was still no small feat as the north still held a large resource advantage over the south, and they extended that even further when they decided to create a naval blockade around the southern states, ceasing all imports and exports from leaving southern shores. Also, the north had a much more extensive railway system when compared to the south. This allowed a quick and steady movement of troops to the points along the Dixie line where they were needed most. Also, the north had far greater amounts of manufacturing power and industrial workers who were ale to mass produce the essential items needed to keep a fighting force as strong and able as it possibly can be. These conditions all added up in the end to spell the end of the Confederate states as they just had no hope of keeping up with the northern juggernaut.