What weaknesses did the South have in the Civil War?

Answer 1

AnswerTheir railway system was not complete, they had railroads here and there, but it didn't connect them as well as the North's railway system. So supplies and soldiers came with more difficulty, it wasn't as smooth. That's a big weakness!

their economy was based on agriculture, but the northerners was based on industry, so the north could make weapons, etc. but, the south had to import things from other countries. the north had a good navy so they could block the southern ports. other problems were starvation, disease, a loss of morale....

The fact that the North was able to ruin the South's economy by placing blockades on southern ports and river-ways, illustrates that the South did not have an adequate navy. If they had, they could have kept the ports opened, which would have allowed for the export of their money crops, such as cotton, tobacco and sugar. They would also have been able to import finished goods, such as machinery and weapons. Had they built an adequate navy before starting hostilities, they could have not only survived but might have had the upper hand over the Northern states -- they had the raw materials that Europe wanted and was more than willing to purchase if they could be shipped.
The fact that the North was able to ruin the South's economy by placing blockades on southern ports and river-ways, illustrates that the South did not have an adequate navy. If they had, they could have kept the ports opened, which would have allowed for the export of their money crops, such as cotton, tobacco and sugar. They would also have been able to import finished goods, such as machinery and weapons. Had they built an adequate navy before starting hostilities, they could have not only survived but might have had the upper hand over the Northern states -- they had the raw materials that Europe wanted and was more than willing to purchase if they could be shipped.

Answer 2

Their greatest weakness was first of all they had the much more difficult task in order to achieve victory: conquer the entire South and hold it. The South was bigger than all of Western Europe and the last person who had managed to conquer such a large territory was Napoleon, who was quickly ousted. Another serious weakness was a lack of firm military leadership. Lincoln was an incredibly firm and even sometimes harsh civil leader, but he lacked a corresponding military commander at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Generally the Union generals were far too cautious and wary of the Confederate forces for fear of casualties and also for losing face as a result. This was a legitimate concern, as the attacker almost inevitably suffered higher casualty rates than the defender during the Civil War, and Lincoln showed that he had little tolerance for failure; the Catch-22 of this was that he had even less tolerance for inaction. Which is how General Grant, despite staggering losses, was able to keep command of the Army of the Potomac. The belief that most Union soldiers were not as rugged or tough as the Confederates is perhaps to some extent true. The Southeners probably were more experienced horsemen and even perhaps more accustomed to using firearms, but the vast majority of the Northern recruits were also farm boys like their Southern counterparts and thus were in more or less the same physical condition; though it is true that the North certainly fielded a great many more city-dwellers than the South, but even here most of these people were poor immigrants or children of immigrant families who worked long and hard hours in the factories. They were not weak or pampered by any means. The last most important weakness the North suffered was their lack of conviction. For the Confederacy it was easy: defend your homeland! For the North it was more difficult, because at this point in history almost no one had any idea what the United States was and so had no idea why they should preserve it. Most people still never left their home county and even fewere people had ever left their home state. To be ordered into a completely different region hundreds of miles away from home to fight the men who DID live there, must have been a hefty task for someone who'd never seen past his neighbor's farm. It was all America yes, but no one had any concept of national unity, or at least a national unity that override state and local loyalties. The issue of freeing the slaves was the next great moral imperative for the North to win, but once again just how important it was for the average Union soldier is questionable at best. While many Northerners might have indeed wanted to see blacks as free men, very few if any at all regarded them as equals and most were probably indifferent to them; therefore, why should we be dying to set these people free?

Answer 3

Lack of these Confederate advantages:

Some of the best officers of the US Army had resigned to join the Confederates.

Traditional advantage in cavalry - most young Southerners could ride and shoot

Officer class - the army was a more natural choice of career for sons of rural landowners than in the industrial North.

Rank-&-file - a more soldierlike breed, a generally aggressive kind of people

Home-ground advantage - most battles were on terrain unfamiliar to the enemy

Stronger war-mission - to defend the homeland against the invader.

Their President did not have to face an election in mid-war, as Lincoln did.

(At the beginning) Prospect of recognition and military aid from Britain and France.

Answer 4

During the American Civil War, some of the Union strengths over and against the South are as follows: first, the Union's population was over double that of the South, which ensured a larger number of soldiers. Second, the Union was highly industrialized, whereas the South was not, which would affect the production of war materials in a significant way. Finally, the Union had a large and effective navy, along with a merchant fleet, while the South had almost none of the same.

Answer 5

Some weaknesses in the union were leadership, structure, and infrastructure. When the colonies gained their independence, the issue of how to begin a new country proved difficult to answer.