The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron Under Admiral David D. Porter, 1864-1865

• Main Author: Hindley, Richard C.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: UNM Digital Repository 1967
• Subjects: History; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/343; https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/context/hist_etds/article/1362/viewcontent/HINDLEY_NORTH_BLOCKING_SQUADRON_OPT.pdf

When the Civil War broke out in April, 1861, it pitted against one another two nations, or sides, which were different not only politically and ideologically, but also economically. The United States was a rising industrial power, with factories, a railroad network, and an expanding urban working class. The Confederate States of America was an agricultural, rural area, with few industries and an antiquated labor system based on chattel slavery. In order to wage a modern war the Confederacy would have to import arms and equipment from abroad and export cotton to pay for these supplies. To keep the South from doing so it was necessary for the North to stop the overseas commerce of the Confederacy. To do this President Lincoln decided to institute a blockade of the Southern coast.