Why was the outcome of the US Civil War not inevitable?

Answer 1

The outcome of the US Civil War was never inevitable until the last few months of the War. The slavery issue would be solved one way or another as technology would place it in to the dustbin of US history. However, that's another topic.

The outcome of the War was in doubt in many ways as the Vietnam War was. As in Vietnam, regardless of the Union's advantages in men, material, and organization, the war would be won on the battlefield with the realization that a Union victory had a cost that few nations could endure.

Were Union soldiers from New York, fighting and dying to free Southern slaves? It was an institution that existed before the United States ever existed. Most soldiers would agree that slavery in the South was wrong, but it was wrong when New York ratified the US Constitution.

It's a difficult task to demonstrate that Union soldiers were now going to fight & die to end slavery. Not at the cost of the rising casualty rates. It's much easier to make a case that the Southern rebellion was a danger to the Union, the Nation that the American Revolution created. A nation, that, flawed as it was, was heads above its European rivals with their kings, barons, endless wars and intrigues.

As late as the Summer of 1864, a former Union general was running to be president, solve the issues, and stop the horrific bloodshed. The Republican Party itself was considering the nomination of another candidate.

All Union victories were at the expense of not a foreign force, but of fellow Americans.

So, no, the result of the rebellion was in doubt from the beginning.

Answer 2

Most people believe it was because some people wanted to keep slaves and others wanted to emancipate them, but that is not entirely right.

Research shows that Lincoln said "slave states would remain slave states" and there would be no more new slave states. He had also said that if slaves had run away into free states, they would be brought back to their owner. The war did end slavery, but that was not the intended reason for the war.

The Civil War was inevitable because the South's way of life was different from the North. The South was mainly into farming. When the cotton gin was invented, most farmers started to grow cotton. These farmers had bought more land to grow cotton. To tend these fields, the farmers bought slaves. This is where the difference between the North and South was. The North had built factories and was into manufacturing goods. The South feared that they would be overrun economically by the Union. As abolitonists fought with slavery proponents in border states, pressure increased for a resolution of some kind.

Both sides had thought that they could win a war, but no one was certain how the North would react to secession.

1. The admission of California upset the balance achieved by the Missouri Compromise, and this was never restored.

2. Many Southern leaders believed that slavery must either expand or die. They would not accept Lincoln's deal, which was to allow slavery to continue but not expand.

Answer 3

The outcome of the US Civil War was not inevitable. Until early January of 1865, there was the possibility that the North might quit the war. Although the North had huge advantages in troops and supplies, the war would and was decided on the battlefield. Although 1864 saw Union generals Sherman and Grant amass victories, Virginia remained an obstacle for the North. Grant's Overland campaign cost the lives of thousands of soldiers, and his victories were narrow. Sherman's operations in the South paled to the Eastern Theater operations of Grant. Public attention there gave the Northern peace movement momentum. As late as the Summer of 1864, Lincoln was not sure he would be nominated for the Republican Party's upcoming November elections.This was when northern public opinion was leaning towards a peace of some kind. Grant's operations caused even Mary Todd Lincoln to label him with the term of "butcher".

The fall of Atlanta may have saved the November elections for Lincoln, but they did not assure the Union of a victory.

Answer 4

The result of the US Civil War was not inevitable. The South did not need to conquer the North nor take over Union territory. For a victory, the South required that the Union would no longer accept the huge amount of casualties that was finally being recognized by both sides.The Southern cause, however, failed to recognize that President Lincoln was a Unionist at all costs. He recognized that the US would be severely damaged if eleven states were allowed to secede. If successful, the South and the North would be weaker nations compared to a united USA.

No one realized the tremendous cost in lives the war would create. Yet, once that became clear, it seemed that these lives would have all been lost in vain if either side "surrendered" in a manner of speaking.

On the issue of slavery, Lincoln did use it as a war measure. The Propaganda effects were speculative. That Lincoln proposed slavery ending plans to the border slave states that would provide compensation to slave owners and be extended into two or more generations is evidence of his wisdom and tolerance.

Lincoln hated slavery. He would abolish it if possible via a constitutional amendment, as was done although on a defacto basis it ended with the Southern surrender in 1865.