Civil War: The Union Blockade

By the end of the Civil War the Union Navy had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355 vessels. The ships employed in blockade-running were almost all privately owned, many of them built by the British or French who sought to maintain trade with the southern states. The Confederate government only had about eleven ships of its own that were employed in the blockade-running effort. Among the most famous blockade runners was the CSS Robert E. Lee a Scottish built iron-hulled, steamer which was eventually captured by Union forces in 1863 and the privately owned SS Syren which made a record of 33 successful runs through the Union blockade. The blockade runners had a specific function in the handling of cargoes headed for the Confederacy. Purchases of supplies made in England were first shipped to Nassau in the bottoms of British vessels where the cargoes would be transferred to blockade runners, ships of lighter draft and greater speed. From Nassau they would make their way to Wilmington, Charleston and

The Naval Blockade planned to cut the Confederacy off from the rest of the world. First, the Naval Blockade was a forceful block of all supplies to the South through America’s Navy. Next, on April 19, 1861, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation of a blockade of southern ports. This was in effect until May 9, 1865. Additionally, the blockade was in effect around the entire Confederate States. It covered the entire Gulf of Mexico, the whole Atlantic coast

The Civil War in the United States from 1861 to 1865 serves as a dark reminder of how disjointed a nation can become over issues that persistently cause heated debate among party factions. Most students that have taken courses in American history understand the disadvantage possessed by the Confederate States of America as they fought against the powerful Union army for what they perceived as a necessary institution of slavery. Historians have debated over the effectiveness of the blockade and if it was important in creating the failures faced by the Confederate States of America. This debate has generated the contested question of “Did the Union blockade succeed in the American Civil War?” The blockade, whether considered a success or an

This was an event during the civil war that lasted four years.During this time the union forces made a blockade to prevent materials to come in to the confederacy. The union blockade was in 1861-1865.The Union Blockade started when President Abraham Lincoln ordered this plan against the Confederate seaports on April 19, 1861.The Purpose of the Union Blockade was so that materials would not arrive for the soldiers and for the people who lived in the south.This stoped products such as food, tobacco, cotton,and many more products.This blockade took place in the southern united states,the atlantic ocean and the gulf of mexico. The confederacy used blockade runners.

A blockade can be defined as an effort to cut off supplies, war materials or communication between forces partially or totally. If one side can establish a blockade it would get easier to defeat the other side, because an effective blockade can cause military and economically problems. During the Civil War, Union navy established a blockade of Confederate ports to prevent export, import and war supplies. The author William N. Still, Jr. argues the effectiveness of a blockade during the Civil War. He argues that the blockade was both effective and ineffective. The effectiveness increased through the end of the war. The blockade had little effect in the war. He gives examples about its effectiveness, such as importance of blockade to cause economic problems. On the other hand, there is considerable evidence showing the ineffectiveness of the

At the beginning of the war the Union thought it would be an easy, quick war. The Union leaders at this time had no actual plan for the war. General Scott saw this and came up with the Anaconda plan. Scott considered the war a strategy game, and would attack and penetrate the enemy 's forces without destroying all of their troops; focusing mainly on victory. At the beginning of the war Scott, unlike others, thought that the war would be over in more than two years. The war ended in four years. The term Anaconda plan came from Northern press trying to explain Scotts plan. Many people thought that Scotts plan was too passive and difficult. The Union’s effort in the civil war increased greatly on April 19, 1861. At this point Abraham Lincoln created a naval blockade, a system of ships that stops all imports and exports, on the Confederate coastline. This blockade stretched from the Rio Grande to the Chesapeake Bay. At this time Lincoln’s argument was that the Confederacy had no right to secede. Creating this blockade allowed the National warships to attack privateers. Privateers are privately owned and run warships. These ships were used to take the Union’s trade ships. Getting rid of the privateers meant that the Union could transport goods easier. Scott 's anaconda plan needed the Union’s army and navy to surround the Confederacy. After encompassing the Confederacy the army and navy would tighten in, and effectively strangle the South. This contained two

As it was said above, the start of the use of ships were due to Lincoln wanting the North to do a blockage against the South. With the blockage it would have covered about three thousands miles and with that fact other nations were not so into the blockage unless it was effective. Once one area of the United States started to have ships, it started to cause the other side known as the Confederate to start up making their own later in the war. Their ships however were both like the others side, but yet not all the way always for some. The Confederate Navy had a difficult time at making ships since it only had two shipyards and lack some materials on making working ships, but somehow they manage to build them and get them all sailing well in the waters.

The Importance of the Blockade Runners in the Civil War Blockade runners enabled the Confederacy to survive for as long as it

The Civil War that occurred was one of the darkest times in our history as a country. It was a time where there was a complete breakdown of social and political systems. Hundreds of thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands more were aversely affected. However, it was also a time of remembrance and significant moral progress. It is remembered as the turning point in American History and would be the foundation for the Civil Rights movement many years later.

One of the few newspapers to act like Switzerland received a huge amount of backlash for doing so. The Republican paper did not succumb to the Union or confederate side and instead advocated for both sides, since the two editors of the paper had different views, but the public was not pleased with this decision. “The general public deemed it weakness and ‘a sign of duplicity’ to publish articles advocating both sides of the issue and dubbed the paper ‘the swill tub’ (Sachsman, 2014, p. 53). A Virginia paper tried this tactic as well, to no avail. “The attempt, however, on the part of any opposition paper to be simultaneously a Union journal and a Southern journal was becoming illogical if not well neigh impossible” (Cappon, 1936, p.14). This explains why the majority took a side during the civil war, as no newspaper wanted to loose the core of their audience due to not taking sides. It is important to note that not all of the papers in this era were propagandist. The Enquirer was able to omit their opinions and write objectively about the war. “Wise and his successors objectively reported the news rather than venting their dissatisfaction with Confederate’s conduct of the war” (Davis & Robertson, 2009, p. 37). This should have been how all the papers of this era reported the war yet a backlash amongst the public contributed to a public outcry, which can be detrimental to a newspapers survival.

Throughout history, conflicts have risen regarding the handling of certain events. Often, these conflicts have played major roles in the development of the United States; two examples are the conflicting views of slavery between numerous states during the 19th century and the different viewpoints on how the United States would treat the South after the Civil War ended. [look over old assignments and see how you expanded these] Both of these disagreements have shaped U.S. history and drastically changed the life of citizens.

When the American Civil War began in the spring of 1861, those flocking to enlistment stations in states both north and south chiefly defined their cause as one of preservation. From Maine to Minnesota, young men joined up to preserve the Union. From Virginia to Texas, their future foes on the battlefield enlisted to preserve a social order, a social order at its core built on the institution of slavery and racial superiority . Secession had not been framed by prominent Southerners like Robert Toombs as a defensive measure to retain the fruits of the revolution against King George, a fight against those who sought to “intrique insurrection with all its nameless horrors.” (Toombs Speech) On January 1, 1863, when Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect the war became a revolution. The Union, the soldiers in blue fought to preserve could no longer exist. On every mile of soil, they would return to the Stars and Stripes from that moment on, the fabric of society would be irrevocably changed. In May of 1865, with the abolition of slavery engrained into the Constitution with the passage of the 13th Amendment, the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston disbanded, and Lincoln dead of an assassin’s bullet; this change was the only certainty the torn fabric of the newly reunited states was left to be resown. Andrew Johnson and Southern Democrats believed the revolution of 1863 had gone far enough. Radical Republicans and African-Americans sought instead to bring it to

Abraham Lincoln once stated “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln is a hero for the citizens of America because his determination and courage to ending slavery even if it meant war caused peace in this nation. Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War. The north and the south both had their differences on how to run the country. People in the North believed in unity and that slavery should not exist because “all men are created equally.” On the other hand, the South believed in continuing slavery. People tried to talk it out and come to a middle ground after both sides compromising, however that didn’t work and caused war. Ideological differences were a vital role to making the American Civil War an inevitable event.

A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.

In 1861, a horrific war began. Nobody had any idea that this war would become the deadliest war in American history. It wasn’t a regular war, it was a civil war opposing the Union in the North and the Confederate States in the South.. The Civil War cost many people’s lives on the battlefield and beyond. In addition it cost an extreme amount of money for the nation which possibly could have been avoided if the war had turned to happen a little differently.