Running the Blockade

Running the Blockade

Running the Blockade

Some History…

Only five days after the Civil War began with the battle and eventual evacuation of Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a naval blockade of the seaports of the seceded states, up to this point (April 19, 1861). Known as the Confederate States of America, these states included South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. Both North Carolina and Virginia would be added to the list of coastal states blockaded eight days later even though they had not yet succeeded. Lincoln’s actions here most likely had a large bearing on the decision of the legislators VA and NC when the decided to secede in the following month. Once the blockade was established it spanned from Cape Henry to the Mexican border- approximately 4,000 of coastline to be shut off from outside trade.[1]
Lincoln understood the position the South was put in after seceding and in going to war with the Union. He understood that the Union was altogether much more capable of funding and providing manpower for a war. For instance, the North had 2.1 million men fight for the Union during the civil war, which comprised only half of their eligible population, while the South had 900,000 men comprising 90% of its eligible population. In fact, the North exceeded the South in nearly all resources (ranging from population to industrial to transportation networks). At the beginning of the war, the North was in control of 90% of the nation’s industrial capacity. They produced 17 times more cotton and wool clothing, 30 times more boots and shoes, and 32 times more firearms than the South. The South had only one munitions plant (the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond) compared to over a dozen located in the North. The North was even said to have a greater agricultural capacity than the South. This was caused in majority by the fact that the North had more mechanized farms than the South, which increased productivity immensely. The South...

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