How did the union blockade of the southern coast affect the confederacy?

The South (Confederacy's) economy was dependent on being able to trade and sell their cotton for money (as their most produced crops are cotton & tobacco.) Also, the South's infrastructure & factories were not built up, and they did not have the economic nor the population superiority as of the North. This led to not only the blockade, but the South's inability to deal with the blockade in a large scale. While the South tried to get smugglers and blockade runners to help them trade, they were not able to bring cotton out in a large scale, and it soon led to the destruction of the South's economy.

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christopher columbus (1492–1504)

i confess that there are several parts of this constitution which i do not at present approve, but i am not sure i shall never approve them: for having lived long, i have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which i once thought right, but found to be otherwise. it is therefore that the older i grow, the more apt i am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.