The CSA was an agricultural region. They relied upon IMPORTS to do anything. US Navy blockades kept rifles, gunpowder, lead bullets, cannons, wagons, clothing, medical supplies, and food from reaching the Southern Armies. The Confederate States of America would be STARVED into submission.
Because the Union hoped that by creating a blockade on the ports, the South would be unable to trade, and their economy would be ruined.
Controlling the Mississippi river.
{| |- | It was an effective method of crippling the Southern War efforts. The South had few manufacturing resources. In order to successfully wage war, they needed weapons and military supplies and lots of money. By preventing them from selling their agricultural goods (cotton) and buying other things, the Union was able to prevent the Southern states from building strength. |}
The blockade efforts of the Union were successful as possible. This was because naval operations at the time did not have modern tools such as radar. A good number of trading ships eluded Union blockades. It greatly diminished Southern trade but it could not shut it down completely. This was no surprise to the Union navy.
The blockade of Charleston was harmful to the Patriots because it severely restricted their ability to receive essential supplies, reinforcements, and financial support from other colonies and foreign allies. This isolation weakened their military position and morale, making it difficult to sustain their defenses against British forces. Additionally, the blockade hindered trade and the flow of goods, further exacerbating economic hardships for the Patriot cause. As a key strategic port, losing Charleston to the blockade diminished their operational capacity in the southern theater of the war.
The French and the British did trade with the confederates, but little of that got through because of the Union blockade. The French were officially neutral but recognised the confederates as a "belligerent".
Because it was aimed at slowly squeezing the life out of the Confederacy. The press and the public ridiculed it, but in the end Lincoln was forced to adopt a plan that was very similar.
Because the North had A) more supplies B) more people and C) the Anaconda plan [Anaconda plan: step 1: Blockade southern ports to prevent supplies for their army from coming in. Step 2: Take over the Mississippi River, splitting the South in two. Step 3: Invade from East and West, surrounding the South.]. Plus, Grant was a brilliant General.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaconda_Plan The Anaconda Plan is the name widely applied to an outline strategy for subduing the seceding states in the American Civil War. Proposed by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, the plan emphasized the blockade of the Southern ports, and called for an advance down the Mississippi River to cut the South in two. Because the blockade would be rather passive, it was widely derided by the vociferous faction who wanted a more vigorous prosecution of the war, and who likened it to the coils of an anaconda suffocating its victim. The snake image caught on, giving the proposal its popular name.
Because the Union hoped that by creating a blockade on the ports, the South would be unable to trade, and their economy would be ruined.
It was because most of the blockade runners didn't give up the fight and they kept on trying. (New Respondent) I feel that the first Respondent is answering a different question. The blockade became more effective because the Emancipation Proclamation discouraged the British from building blockade-runners for the Confederates, for fear of looking pro-slavery. Meanwhile the Union navy had built-up a bigger fleet, and New Orleans had fallen to the North.
Because the Union naval blockade had prevented the South from importing war-supplies. And Grant had ended the system of prisoner-exchange, so the Confederates were running out of manpower.
because it did
They could no export their cotton because of the US Naval blockade
Many people doubted the Anaconda Plan because it relied heavily on a naval blockade to suffocate the Southern economy, which seemed ambitious given the Confederacy's extensive coastline. Critics were concerned about the feasibility of maintaining such a blockade and the strength of the Southern forces defending their ports. Additionally, the plan's emphasis on capturing the Mississippi River as a means to divide the Confederacy was seen as a slow and complicated strategy that might not yield quick results. This skepticism was compounded by early Union military setbacks in the war, which further fueled doubts about the effectiveness of the plan.
Because of the blockade the Union troops forced on the Southern ports. They did not want to risk the goods they were shipping to be destoryed.
Because the Union built-up a big navy, capable of blockading 3500 miles of coastline, and only the smallest and fastest vessels could break through with contraband. Nowhere near enough weapons or ammunition could be delivered to the Confederates to make any difference to the outcome of the war.