The Effect of Technological Advancements on the Northern Victory of the Civil War

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A – Plan of the Investigation
This investigation is to evaluate to what extent did technological advancements of the time affect the Northern victory of the American Civil war? To assess how modern technology of the era affected its events, the investigation focuses on the inventions and advancements of the time period of the American Civil war and how they influenced or changed the course of the conflict Union in the North and its defeat of the Southern Confederacy. These developments and the impact that each technology had can be evaluated by their contributions to daily life, contributions on the battlefield, and how each compared to the technology that was previously available.

B – Summary of Evidence
The American Civil war was time of thriving technological advancement and innovation. So much that the Civil war has become known to many historians now as “The Modern War”. Rather than what most people believe to be a much more primitive war, much like the American Revolution filled with line battles and bayonet charges, the times of bayonets and sabres were becoming a rarity. (Hubbell 137) Instead, improvements that were made to the weaponry of the Civil war proved to be costly to both sides as the Civil war ended as the bloodiest war America had ever seen. With the advances of Springfield and Enfield rifles (Springfield located in Massachusetts, a Northern state), infantry soldiers became much more lethal than their evolutionary musket-welding counterparts. (Keegan 338) Or with the introduction of the Gatling gun- which although showed great technological innovation, was never used for the war- that was the first form of what now would be called a machine gun, and had a rotating group of gun barrels, spinnin...

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...98. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
Hubbell, John T. Battles Lost and Won: Essays from Civil War History. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1975. Print.
Keegan, John. The American Civil War: A Military History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. Print.
Koenig, Alan R. "Railroad's Critical Role in the Civil War." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online Railroads Critical Role in the Civil War Comments. Weider History Group, 12 June 2006. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Nash, Howard P. A Naval History of the Civil War. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes, 1972. Print.
Volo, Dorothy Denneen, and James M. Volo. Daily Life in Civil War America. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.
Wheeler, Tom. "How the Telegraph Helped Lincoln Win the Civil War." History News Network. History News Network, 2006. Web. 01 May 2014.
Wright, John D. The Language of the Civil War. Westport, CT: Oryx, 2001. Print.

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