The Tale of the Tape

            The Tale of the Tape is the summation of the various advantages and disadvantages held by the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War, stretching from 1861 to 1865.

The Union (also known as the United States, or simply just the North) held a number of advantages over the Confederacy. For one, they had a higher population of willing soldiers. The Confederates were infamous for largely being planter aristocrats, which meant that most of them were the closest thing that America had to a noble class. This led to soldiers who were largely from poorer families and the rich soldiers were, more often than not, ineffective in battle. Meanwhile, the Union held a distinct advantage. They had much larger amounts of soldiers that knew conflict and were willing to fight, especially after Emancipation. Another contributing factor in the Union’s favor was industry. The Confederacy was largely an agricultural society, relying on farms and plantations. The Union was a center of industry, allowing them to produce more guns, uniforms, and everything else needed for a war. The Union also had a better navy, something the Confederacy lacked almost entirely. The backbone of the navy during the Civil War was the United States Merchant Marine. They blockaded the southern ports, not allowing any of them to slip by and basically cutting off trade with foreign countries. In terms of diplomacy, the Union also won out by a large margin. Foreign powers, especially the large trading partner Great Britain, did not want to support a country that used slavery, and so were easily persuaded to, if not assist the Union, then support their ideals. The Union also wins the fight for transportation, as they had the only access to railroads of any kind. Connected to transportation is the matter of harbors, which were sparse in the Confederacy but were plentiful in the North, leading to much better trade relations with foreign powers.

The Confederacy (also known as the Confederate States, or simply the South) also held a number of advantages over the Union. For one, they had much better generals. Their generals, especially Robert E. Lee, were a large part of why the Confederacy had so many victories early on in the war. The Confederacy also had much more morale as a result of clearer war aims. The Confederacy knew what they were fighting for, a preservation of the life and culture that had dominated their society. The Union, however, was quite a bit more confused with their war aims, as no one had any real clue as to why the Union was fighting other than to stop the rebelling states. The Confederates also win in terms of territory, as they had the home field advantage. Because of the nature of the war, the Union had to invade southern territory, which means that the Confederates were fighting on their own soil. This meant that they knew the land significantly better than their opponents, giving them a distinct advantage in terms of strategic and tactical planning. A surprising advantage turned out to be the Confederacy’s use of spies. Spies like Belle Boyd provided the Confederacy with valuable information on troop movements and strengths.

The Confederacy and the Union had their share of strengths, but the Union held the larger number of advantages and eventually won the bloodiest conflict in American history.

In the end, what this did have to do with this blog? Absolutely nothing! Welcome to the Big Lipped Alligator Post (aka the-I-needed-to-come-up-with-something-quick-to-fill-my-unspoken-daily-quota-if-I-missed-a-day-post), a completely non sequitur addition to my fine Throne. Good night!