Section A
Basing my IA on the Civil War, I wanted to explore themes that defined the outcome of one of the greatest wars in the history of the United States. This came in the form of investigating technology that was used during 19th century. From there I formed the following question: How did advancements in technology impact the north and the south during the Civil War? I used sources to find out background information that would add detail to my writing. This came from the following sources: History.com (History.com Staff. “Civil War Technology.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.) and civilwar.org (“Technology and Casualties in the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg – www.civilwar.org.” Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.).
Coming from History.com, this is a secondary source that summarizes many of the greatest technological inventions that came about during the Civil War time period. This gave me background information for many of the topics discussed in my investigation. It fulfilled its purpose by informing me of the technology that was used during the war. This was a good starting place that introduced me to the topic. I used the information on this website as a starting point of how to develop my paper in chronological order. It is a good introduction to innovative designs from the 19th century. This evidence however has its limitations, for example there is some bias. It is written as if the Union is the “good guys.” The Union is discussed in a lot more detail than the Confederacy. Overall though, the article provides solid background on the type of machinery and technology that was used in the Civil War. It could have been improved with more information on the Confederacy and the type of technology that they had access to.
The other source from civilwar.org is also a secondary source. This source was very beneficial to my paper and provided statistical evidence that was used in my writing. It contained information on how technology effected the war. This is something that the other source lacked. While my first source provided information on what each device did, this tells of the impact that it had on the battlefield using statistics to stress just how great of an impact it was. Another advantage that this source is that there is little bias. Neither the Union nor the Union is favored which provides an unbiased analysis of the technology used.
Section B
How did advancements in technology impact the north and south during the civil war?
The American Civil War was a time of differing political and social views. The United States was now divided between the Union and the Confederacy. The Union represented the north and the confederacy represented the south. Tensions grew over the major issue of slavery. The north wanted to abolish slavery because they saw it as unconstitutional. The south however relied heavily on slaves to support their economy. Because of their geographical location, the confederacy’s primary source of income came from agriculture. States’ rights then became an issue and another conflict. The south wanted to expand slavery into the western states. The north tried everything they could to prevent this from happening. The two division soon found the selves at war with one another. In 1860, when Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected, the south gave up all of their influence from the north (“Feature Civil War Innovations.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.). They succeeded from the union and formed the Confederacy. This decision in turn would lead to war. This led to a time of great technological advancements. Inventions such as the repeating rifle and the submarine not only changed the war, but also the way many lived. Not all of these new devices were used for war however. Inventions that were not used for war also in a sense “changed the game.” This included innovations such as the telegraph and the railroad. The inventions that came about during the civil war not only impacted the north and south, it changed the way wars were fought forever.
The civil war began when the confederacy attacked Fort Sumter on South Carolina on April 12, 1861. Being pulled into this war, northern soldiers needed to be better equipped for battle. This led to the production of the miníe ball. Invented by Claude Miníe, the miníe ball was a bullet that was much smaller than typical ammunition used in rifles (History.com Staff. “Civil War Technology.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.). This technology was only available to the northern soldiers because they had access to factories while the southerners didn’t not have the resources to manufacture them and didn’t even know how. There were many advantages of a smaller bullet. It proved effective by the fact that soldiers could reload their rifles much faster due to the fact that they didn’t have to use a ramrod. Rifle that used miníe balls were also far more deadly from longer range because they were more accurate and traveled farther and faster due to its size. This would force enemy infantries to keep their distance or flank so that they are not easily picked off.
In addition to the miníe ball, the north had access to repeating rifles. These were guns that could fire more than one bullet without having to reload. This created a pretty deadly combination for war. This gave the north a significant advantage on the battlefield. The south at the time only had single shot rifles. Therefore, while the confederate soldiers were busy reloading during a battle, a union soldiers had already pulled the trigger on them and a bullet was headed in their direction (History.com Staff. “Civil War Technology.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.).
Not all advancements came in the form of weaponry. Other inventions impacted the war significantly in non-violent ways. Another advantage that the north had over the south was the access to balloons. The union would send spies into confederate territory to find information of what they were planning. The spies would then return with valuables such as battle tactics and strategies (“Feature Civil War Innovations.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.). In addition to this, the north had many warships that were patrolling the coast which blacked off all sources of trade for the confederacy. If an unidentified ship was approaching, it was then taken out and destroyed.
The Confederates had a counter to these ships however. This was something that the Union did not have access to. With the introduction of submarines into the war (“Feature Civil War Innovations.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.), the confederacy could use stealth to their advantage and destroy Union warships from the depths below. This would then open up the opportunity for the Confederacy to engage in trade with other allies.
At this time still, the Union held the advantage due to the fact that they had major access to railroads. The railroad provided fast transportation for people and allowed for large amounts of goods to be moved across land. When the south succeeded from the Union, there was 22,000 miles of track in northern territories and only 9,000 miles of track located in the south (“1862: America Undeceived.” 1862 America Undeceived. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.). This gave the north a significant advantage due to the fact that they controlled most of the trade within the country. Since the Union had already cut off all trade outside of the country for the Confederacy, their only option was trade by railroad. In addition to this, the Union was able to produce more locomotives because they were more industrialized than the Confederacy. Northern tracks were also standardized in the fact that any car could travel along their railroads. Southern tracks however were not equipped the same. Therefore, passengers and goods had to often change cars in order to reach a certain destination. This proved to be inefficient and expensive.
The biggest advantage that the Union had over the Confederacy was their communication. This was due to the invention of the telegraph. This was set up in the White House and gave Lincoln access to his commanders on the battlefield. This allowed him to. On item battlefield reports and deliver orders to his troops. This proved to be useful because the president could communicate with his military from thousands of miles away. In time, the Union established the US military telegraph corps. Led by Andrew Carnegie, the Union trained 1,200 operators and built 4,000 miles of telegraph wire (“1862: America Undeceived.” 1862 America Undeceived. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.). The Confederacy was at a significant disadvantage here. They were not industrialized enough to have such a large scale communications operation.
In the end, the Union dominated the Confederacy. The Confederacy could not keep pace which led to their demise. They lacked the technology and industry that the Union had access. This was due to the fact that their economy was based on agriculture while the Union based its economy on industry. They were able to produce better, faster, and more technology than the Confederacy. This came in the form of weaponry, transportation, and communication. This is why technology won the war. The Confederacy outnumbered the Union in terms of people, but the Union won because they used their resources more effectively.
Section C
Throughout my investigation I came across many different types of methods used by historians to inform readers. For example all of my sources were very heuristic in the sense that they were all on topic and supported my overall theme of my investigation. This method is very important for historians because it keeps their information on topic. It is also important because as time passes, records change and information can be misinterpreted. Therefore historians must make sure that the information that they are conveying is as relevant as possible to the theme that they are discussing. This method is a matter of determining what sources will most benefit the question at hand. If the information is similar but not related to the desired topic, then it is irrelevant. The authors overall in my sources stayed on topic and the information was focused on the technology involved in the Civil War.
Another obstacle that historians face is criticism. The problem here is proving the authenticity of the information conveyed. Therefore, evidence must be provided. However, evidence can be biased and lead towards one side more than the other. This can cause problems with how accurate the information presented is. This is why it is important for historians to cite where they got their information form so that the reader knows that the information comes from a reliable source. If it is not accurate, it can greatly impact the credibility of the author.
The historian also faces the challenge of exposition. They must figure out a way to convey the information in which they are presenting in a way that other people would understand. In particular, other historians. This is difficult because if a historian is using somebody else’s findings, they must use it in a respectful way that gives credit to the original author. This was difficult for me to determine throughout my investigation because the authors did not have many sources linked to their information. They mainly provided facts backed by statistical evidence.
The sources I selected that were used in my investigation provided evidence that supported the details used. This adds to the authenticity of the information when citations are inserted.
Citations
- History.com Staff. “Civil War Technology.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.
- “Technology and Casualties in the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg – www.civilwar.org.” Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.
- “Feature Civil War Innovations.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.
- “1862: America Undeceived.” 1862 America Undeceived. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.