Union Blockade and Sherman's Atlanta Campaign

        The Union blockade of Georgia's coast was started by Lincoln on April 19th, 1861 and did not stop until the end of the Civil War. The North was blocking all things imported and exported out of Georgia. This included weapons, food, and important crops like cotton which was considered a major cash crop. One out of every three ships that attempted to cross the Union's blockade was intercepted.  This was a huge blow to the Southern economy. The blockade was a good plan that worked very well and slowly but surely weakened the South.

        Sherman's Atlanta Campaign took place during the summer of 1864. Sherman was in Atlanta waiting for confirmation that he could begin his march. This campaign had several different names. They were "Total War" "Hard War" and "Scorched Earth". Sherman was in Atlanta for two months before his plan to march was approved. During this time Sherman and his men did as much as they could to ruin the South while still being somewhat humane. To ruin the transportation, they burned the railroad tracks util they were hot enough to bend. They then bent the tracks around a nearby tree so it was irreparable. They would burn down every building except for schools, churches, hospitals. Once Sherman got word that it was time to march, he and his men left Atlanta like nothing had happened.