Confederates took over an abandoned Union warship, the U.S.S. Merrimack. They covered it with iron plates and renamed it the Virginia. On its first day out in March 1862, the Virginia destroyed two Union ships and drove three more aground. Union cannonballs bounced harmlessly off the Virginia’s metal skin.
The Union countered with its own ironclad, the Monitor. The two ships clashed in a body of water called Hampton Roads near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Despite an exhausting battle, neither vessel seriously damaged the other, and both withdrew. Two months later Confederates had to sink the Virginia when the Union captured Norfolk. The Union eventually built more than 50 ironclads.
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
Why would ironclads prove more important to the Union than to the Confederacy?
(1 point)
Responses
The war at sea was not important to the Confederacy, but it was to the Union.
The war at sea was not important to the Confederacy, but it was to the Union.
The Confederacy did not have the resources to make ironclads, but the Union did.
The Confederacy did not have the resources to make ironclads, but the Union did.
The Confederate navy did not need ironclads, the Union navy did.
The Confederate navy did not need ironclads, the Union navy did.
The Confederate navy already controlled important waterways.
The Confederate navy already controlled important waterways.
Remaining Attempts : 3
1 answer
The most accurate response is:
The Confederacy did not have the resources to make ironclads, but the Union did.
This option highlights the significant difference in resources between the Union and the Confederacy, indicating why ironclads would be more important to the Union in terms of their ability to build and deploy them effectively.
