In 1861, following the secession of the Deep South on a platform of states rights, the right to property and the event of Fort Sumnter, the 'inevitable' conflict Seward had predicted emerged as the Civil War. Four years later Lee surrendered and so returned the Confederate states to the Union - the victory of the North was never as forgone as the onslaught of secession, and certainly historians such as McPherson have judged it would be dangerous to generalise over causes of the Northern Victory, since events on the battlefield could have taken a different course into Southern favour, changing the War's final outcome. However, there are several factors that were certainly crucial for northern victory - such as economic growth and stability, the political prowess and generalship of Lincoln and Military manpower and technique. Many historians of the post-war era and in the 20th century noted the economic might and manpower of the North as one of the main reasons for success.

Economic factors were certainly crucial for the defeat of the South in 1865. By 1861, the North was, economically, in line with the Industrialised world of Northern Europe and Britain, and was way ahead of the 'backward'

The manpower and strategy of the Union military was also crucial to the northern victory. In addition to the apparently infinite manpower of the North, the Union retained the Navy which became essential in taking splitting the Confederacy up the Mississippi and blockading Southern trade routes with Europe, an essential part of the Anaconda plan of Lincoln's General-in-Chief, Winfield Scott. Infact the best Union strategy kept to the theme of isolating the South until it was suffocated of resources and communication - the taking of the prime Mississippi port of New Orleans in 1863 severed communication, whilst the blockade on the east coast strangled the South of it's only dependence on Europe. Generalship in the Union was not always up to standard although the war careers of Grant and Sherman certainly showed more strategic planning than their Southern brethren; for example Sherman's storm through Georgia - destroying railroad and property whilst plundering stores - completely sucked out Southern morale and caused $100,000,000s worth of damage making the effect of blockades feel harder on the people of Georgia. Finally the Union never received a threat of aggression from Europe, instead it vowed to strike back if they recognised the Confederacy. Britain left the war alone and found it could grow cotton in it's other colonies, such as India, any problems such as those found in Lancashire were claimed to be more caused by Overproduction rather than cotton shortage. Whilst Military might had a lot to play in breaking down the South economically - by splitting it into two - and emotionally - the Georgian riots - auxiliary Northern strengths and Southern weakness played their role.

Of course there were strengths in the Southern campaign, and weaknesses in the Northern campaign which, if McPherson was to be correct, may have swung the war into Confederate independence. Many find the idea that the South could not drum up nationalistic support as unconvincing - McPherson found, in his study of Confederate soldier's letters, that there was little class division and many believed they were fighting for the just cause of liberty and democracy, as the forefathers did of the original thirteen colonies. Newspapers provided all the jingoism, identity and pride a Confederate patriot would need, in the pro-secessionist style as in the anti-bellum period. The North also had a fair share of dissent - the 'copperheads' or Peace Democrats fought Lincoln tooth and nail to the 1864 elections, on a pla

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