Union Strategy Black Contributions

Union Strategy Black Contributions

Discuss the Union strategy for victory in the Civil War. What role did Blacks play in winning the Civil War and in defining the war’s consequences?

APA

The Union’s strategy to defeat the Confederacy was based on a multi-pronged approach known as the Anaconda Plan, designed to suffocate the Southern war effort:

1. Naval Blockade

   • The Union navy blockaded Southern ports to cut off trade, preventing the Confederacy from exporting cotton and importing weapons.
   • This weakened the Southern economy and military supply chains.

2. Control of the Mississippi River

   • Capturing the Mississippi River divided the Confederacy and cut off Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas from the rest of the South.
   • The Union achieved this with victories at Vicksburg (1863) and New Orleans (1862).

3. Total War and the March to the Sea

   • General William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864) devastated Southern infrastructure, destroying railroads, crops, and supply lines.
   • This weakened the Confederate will to fight and hastened the war’s end.

4. Capture of Richmond

   • The Union targeted the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, as a symbolic and strategic goal.
   • General Ulysses S. Grant led a relentless campaign in 1864-65 that eventually forced Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House (1865)…

The Union’s strategy to defeat the Confederacy was based on a multi-pronged approach known as the Anaconda Plan, designed to suffocate the Southern war effort:

1. Naval Blockade

   • The Union navy blockaded Southern ports to cut off trade, preventing the Confederacy from exporting cotton and importing weapons.
   • This weakened the Southern economy and military supply chains.

2. Control of the Mississippi River

   • Capturing the Mississippi River divided the Confederacy and cut off Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas from the rest of the South.
   • The Union achieved this with victories at Vicksburg (1863) and New Orleans (1862).

3. Total War and the March to the Sea

   • General William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864) devastated Southern infrastructure, destroying railroads, crops, and supply lines.
   • This weakened the Confederate will to fight and hastened the war’s end.

4. Capture of Richmond

   • The Union targeted the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, as a symbolic and strategic goal.
   • General Ulysses S. Grant led a relentless campaign in 1864-65 that eventually forced Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House (1865)…