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The Impact of Ironclads in the Execution of the Anaconda Plan


Ironclads contributed significantly to the success of General Winfield Scott\'s \"Anaconda Plan,\" which was critical to the Union victory in the Civil War. The plan was two-fold: the Union blockaded Confederate ports and gained control of the rivers, notably the Mississippi River, which were crucial for travel in the agrarian South.
Lincoln and his cabinet did not immediately decide that an actual blockade was the most desirable action. The Lincoln administration never officially acknowledged that the South had indeed left the United States. Any blockade would therefore be a blockade against its own ports. Doing so meant Lincoln was giving tacit belligerency status. As an alternative, he could issue an executive order closing the Southern ports to foreign trade. This, however, was a mere legal formality, relating only to U.S. Customs law, and obviously unenforceable in the seceded states.[1] Moreover, European......

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Approximate Word Count: 2667
Approximate Pages: 11 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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