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During the Civil War, Union forces established a blockade of Confederate ports designed to prevent the export of cotton and the Confederacy's smuggling of war materiel. Although somewhat porous, the blockade was an important economic policy that successfully prevented Confederate access to weapons that the industrialized North could produce for itself.
The U.S. Government successfully convinced foreign governments to view the blockade as a legitimate tool of war. It was less successful at preventing the smuggling of cotton, weapons, and another other materiel from Confederate ports to transfer points in Mexico, the Bahamas, and Cuba, as this trade remained profitable for foreign merchants in those regions and elsewhere.
====US blockades Confederacy 1861====
====Britain objected to US blockade, but did little else====
[[File:Blockade_connecticut_plan_civil_war_cartoon.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px250px|The efforts to blockade the South were not particularly effective. This cartoon mocks the Northern effort.]]
British officials were also concerned about the treatment of crews of seized ships and the seizure of British mail. British Minister to the United States, Baron Richard Lyons, repeatedly voiced his government’s objections to U.S. Secretary of State William Henry Seward, prompting Seward to invite Lyons to a meeting with President Lincoln. During this meeting, Lyons persuaded Lincoln to adopt British neutrality policies by promising that the British Government would continue to view the blockade as a legitimate war tool.
====Strong Abolitionist sentiment in Britain hindered recognition of the South====
Although British Prime Minister Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, was personally sympathetic to the Confederacy, and much many other elite Britons felt similarly, strong domestic abolitionist sentiment in Britain and his cabinet prevented Palmerston from taking stronger steps toward assisting the Confederacy. Napoleon III of France was also sympathetic to the Confederacy but wanted to pursue a joint policy with Britain regarding the U.S. Civil War, and so remained neutral. Moreover, Napoleon III’s chief concern during the Civil War years was France’s intervention in Mexico.
====Conclusion====
As the war progressed and more territory came under Union control, the blockade became more effective but less of an international issue. However, until the capture of Fort Fisher in 1865, the Confederate Army could still obtain some supplies via blockade running ships.
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIXwgB7-uIU</youtube>
* Article: [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/blockade| The Blockade of Confederate Ports, 1861–1865]
