Why did the Confederates loose the war? 2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877

Why did the Confederates loose the war? Good learning: Understand some of the key reasons behind the Confederate defeat Great learning: Explain why these reasons led to the defeat Even better: Evaluate what the main reason was behind the Confederate defeat Key Words:

What reasons contributed to the Confederate’s failure? To help us start picking out different reasons, we need to have a look back over the war and see what contributed to some of the key turning points in the war. First we need to identify the key turning points and how significant they are. TASK: Now go back to the top 3 turning points and with each one: Explain why it is a turning point List the factors/impact of these battles help explain the reason for the Confederate loss? TASK: Go through your battles handout and for each battle give it a turning point rating: 10 This is the moment that changed the war- 1 Nothing new here.

Was the cause of Confederate defeat internal, or external? The key historiographical debate about the Civil War in general, is whether the cause of Confederate defeat external, or internal… Those who emphasize internal causes attribute the failure to breakdowns in Confederate leadership, both political and military, and errors on the battlefield. Those who stress external causes attribute this defeat to the military might of the Union, Lincoln’s wartime leadership, and Union general-ship. TASK: Now that you have started to understand the different reasons, put them into one of the two columns and add anymore reasons that you can think of. Internal External

Was the cause of Confederate defeat internal, or external? Missed Confederate Opportunities Military Leadership Too attack minded? Guerrilla warfare Focus too much on Virginia Western Commanders Confederate will Lack of nationalism Religious doubts Slavery qualms Division of the Confederacy Confederate Women Robert E. Lee Confederate Leadership (Davis) Skill of the Union Generals Strength of the Union Will Union Leadership (Abraham Lincoln) Emancipation Proclamation TASK: Check and Also add in any different reasons which you might not have picked up

What was the main reason for the Confederate defeat? TASK: On the paper you have been given, you will need to divide it into 8 and in each box you will need to write notes on each of the following reasons. In a different colour you should comment on how each reason could lead to defeat. You will need to write down the title of the reason and highlight it one of two colours to show whether it is external or internal. You will then need to cut them out and stick your cards in each of the circles. Like we have done before, the bigger the circle the bigger the reason. Once completed you should answer the following questions: Explain your main reason for why the Confederates lost. Which had more impact on the outcome? External or Internal? Explain your answer.

What links can be made between the different factors? Political/Military leadership Power Emancipation Union General Lincoln Missed Opportunity Guerrilla Virginia Attack minded Nationalism

Confederate Link Union Planning an answer: Missed Confederate opportunities Confederate Will Confederate leadership Military leadership Confederate Confederate Defeat Link Explanation Evidence Union Generals Union will Union leadership Emancipation Proclamation TASK: Complete your fish bone diagram with the different reasons that lead to the Confederate’s defeat Union

Flip Learning To start you off with the homework for this week, you will need to watch the following video…… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25HHVDOaGeE What do you notice about the battles and the war? TASK: For the next 3 weeks you will need to create a timeline or poster about the civil war. You will need to include the full range of main battles and events that took place and along the way you will need to pull out: Turning points Significance of battles in terms of their outcome. You should also consider at what point the Union victory become inevitable (if it ever does) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25HHVDOaGeE. There are lots of examples on line to help.