The Civil War

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How many people died in the war?

620.000 but that's conservative IMHO.

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620.000 but that's conservative IMHO.

Really?  What makes you think the number would be higher?

Civilians, MIA etc. The paperwork trail was terrible back then, especially for confederates.

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Civilians, MIA etc. The paperwork trail was terrible back then, especially for confederates.

I assumed the 620,000 figure did take those things into account.  Where would you put the number, then?  800,000?

http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm


I wouldn't say the number is dramatically off but records were horrible in the south.

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So, something I've been mulling recently: why did the South lose the war, and who's to blame?  I'm writing an essay putting much of the blame on Lee, but of course there are other options.  What do y'all think?

Start with the railroads, that answers a lot of problems. North Carolina was found to have warehouses busting with food and supplies at the end of the war but the problem was the gauge on the tracks varied from state to state and they had a problem getting the supplies to the front.

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I can't see the South keeping West Virginia,

Especially since the railroads were the reason the Union wanted WVA in the first place.

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First of all it wasnt cemetery hill, it was culps hill that Ewell didnt take, it commanded the town, and Lee was the reason the south lasted so long. He was the greatest commander ever. Tactics today are based on him, speed and mobility. And slavery didnt become an issueuntill the emacipation proclamation, and it only applied to states still in rebellion and they were not gonna give them. Lol so in essence "the great emancipator" didnt free one slave the 13th amendement did.

What?  Are you kidding?

No, he's correct. Prior to the emancipation proc the main goal of the US Govt and Military was to save the Union and end the war. While their was strong pressure from abolitionist groups to change the ultimate goal up until that point the EP changed the whole nature of the mission. He was also correct in stating that the EP didn't really free one slave, if you read the document the only slaves that were "freed" were done so in Confederate held territory, which at the time was a foreign nation and therefore the federal authorities had no powers to enforce the law. Slaves in MD, KY, MO, and DE, and CS states that were occupied by Union forces were left unaffected by the EP.

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, the only reason he even issued the the proclomation was to take the moral high ground and keep Britian and France out of the war.

Yes, it kept them from officially joining with the south but both nations, especially Britain, shipped thousands of weapons, provided sailors and built ships for the Confederacy.

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It was more of the tarrifs imposed, the south had 20%of the population, but 80% of the tax burden

cite?

I don't know where to find it right now but I can back up that he is very close to correct.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_of_1828 Not necessarily addressing that but it was a major issue.

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PGT Beuraguard did not fire on Fort Sumpter to keep slaves, and Lincoln did not call for 75,000 troops to free slaves, he did it to put down the rebellion. Why dont you try again.

But why was there a rebellion in the first place?

Answer: slavery.

The reason why Fort Sumter was fired on was due to the fact that the US Military would not leave the property of the Confederate govt. Sorry but the constitution does not state anywhere that the federal government has any right to own property.

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So the property that is now federal parks and military bases were purchased from the states? Somehow I highly doubt that. The federal govt only has such lands at the pleasure of the states IMHO.

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And if that state secedes?

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That would be up to the seceded state? Would Germany have the right to evict us from our bases?