In 1861 through 1865, the newly formed United States of America broke into war, with the Southern states wanting to leave the country and start their own. Tensions first started rising when the issue of slavery was heavily debated, and contemplated wheather or not it should be abolished. When no conclusion arrived, the country split in two and became the Union and Confederacy, fighting against each other, the outcome of the war would determine the fate of the country. In the end, the Union won and was able to retain the nation’s solidarity. A large factor contributing to the North’s triumph was due to the war technologies it possessed, including the telegraph and railroads, and the use of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Firstly, the Northern states had made immense industrial advances that the South did not. Where the North relied on machines, the South had relied on labor and agriculture. Because of this, the Northern states were able to implement a telegraph system where communication was quick and efficient, unlike the South who had to use runners to relay messages to and from places, “Abraham Lincoln was the first president who was able to communicate on the spot with his officers on the battlefield”. Another structure used to win the war was the railroad system, which had already been built before the war, and was used to transport everything the troops needed, from food, artillery, supplies, and even the troops themselves. Lastly, although often overlooked, the Emancipation Proclamation actually played a very large role in the Union’s victory over the Confederacy. The Emancipation Proclamation was given in 1862 after a previous battle draw, and stated that all slaves, even those still captured in the Southern states, were now free. Those enslaved in the Southern states would obviously still not be free yet, but it had a powerful psychological impact on everyone. For the slaves, it gave them a sense of hope, Lincoln had intended for it to “undermine slavery”, a key in the South’s war efforts. For all in the Union, it had changed the purpose of the war from preserving the nation, to also abolishing slavery altogether.
Although all these factors were vital to the North’s success, the most key aspect of the North’s victory would be their war technologies. When war technologies are brought up, guns and arms come to mind, but the true star of war technologies in the North would be the railroads and telegraphs. As discussed before, telegraphs were used in the war, it was said that Lincoln was the first President to be able to communicate with troops on the front lines, firstly the telegraph would be used as a means of communication, while morse code kept the messages from being intercepted. The second part of the key factor in the North’s victory would be the railroads, which were something unavailable to the Confederate troops, their supplies would take much more time to arrive. While the Southern states did indeed have railroads, it was explained that they were not as efficient due to not all cars fitting on all tracks, meaning it would take longer and more money to transport goods to and from the front lines. The Union had standardized tracks and cars, allowing them to move war supplied with ease.