Wars are won and lost for thousands of reasons.
Civil wars, because of the bitterness and cruelty they
entail, often result in long debates about why one
side defeated the other. No one is ever satisfied with
the answers, because they hinge on so many
variables. Nevertheless, several important reasons
can be identified that serve as departure points for
further debate and argument.
Why the North won
You can argue about this forever. There are many
reasons why the North won, but several will suffice
to answer the question:
The North's superior resources made the
outcome inevitable. Given all the resources the
North possessed — financial, economic,
manpower — it would seem inevitable that after
all these resources were harnessed, the South
could not win the war.
The North had a coherent strategy (The
Anaconda Plan). From the very beginning of
the war, the Union strategy was sound —
blockade the South while controlling the
Mississippi and drive on the Confederate
capital of Richmond. Although it took four
years to organize, it was the strategy that won
the war.
Lincoln and Grant collaborated well. After
Lincoln found a general capable of carrying out
the Union's determined strategy, Lincoln and
Grant worked closely together to ensure that
the military objectives of the war corresponded
with the political objectives of the war. In fact,
Lincoln held a meeting with Grant and Sherman
just a few weeks prior to the end of the war to
outline their final strategy, including post-war
plans. Knowing the President's intentions
allowed Grant and Sherman to use the military
means necessary to achieve them.
The moral power of fighting for human freedom
empowered the North. Lincoln changed the
entire nature of the conflict by issuing the
Emancipation Proclamation. Without it, the war
had no true goal. By proclaiming that the war
was now one for human freedom, the North
gained a moral power that prevented European
intervention on behalf of the Confederacy and
doomed the South's cause.
Why the South lost
You can argue about this one forever, too. There are
many explanations, most of which do not tell the
whole story, but these seem to be the most obvious
ones:
The South ran out of time. As long as the
South could keep the North at bay, either
through military stalemate or a collapse of
Northern national willpower, it could win the
war, regardless of the North's superior
resources. It was very close, but the North
stayed the course.
States' rights prevented unification of the
South. The very issue that created the
Confederacy helped to destroy it. Individual
state governors fought bitterly with Jefferson
Davis to prevent him from consolidating power
to fight the war. They withheld troops and
supplies while the Confederate Congress spent
its time arguing over the prerogatives of the
states instead of prosecuting a war of national
survival.
Jefferson Davis and his generals failed to work
together. Davis wanted to be a general, not
president. He never gave up trying to be a
general in the area of strategy and selection of
generals to lead his armies. Davis loved to
interfere in issues of strategy, giving directions
to his generals without ever giving them the
means to accomplish his objectives. He made
terrible choices for senior commanders, often
selecting men based on personal preference
rather than qualifications. He stubbornly
supported his favorites, even at the expense of
overall benefits for the Confederacy.
The South failed to gain the recognition of the
European nations. King Cottondiplomacy was
meant to be a dagger pointed at the economic
heart of Europe. Instead, it was a knife laid
against the South's own throat. By purposely
withholding cotton from European markets in
the crucial first two years of the war, the South
ruined its chances to win European support.
Additionally, the South never clearly articulated
its cause to Europe. Its clumsy defense of
slavery and key military defeats at the wrong
time doomed all hopes of diplomatic
recognition.
One more explanation for the Southern defeat
came from a Confederate veteran: "We just
wore ourselves out whippin' Yankees!"
