Download Chap. 11 Anaconda Plan WS

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THE CIVIL WAR
Geography and History
The Anaconda Plan
Union General Winfield Scott developed the first major Union strategy in the Civil
War, the Anaconda Plan. Under the Anaconda Plan, the Union planned to blockade
ports in the South while taking control of the land around the Mississippi River,
effectively cutting off the South’s supply and distribution lines. ◆ Read the following
excerpt from a letter from General Scott to Union commanding General George McClellan in
which Scott describes the Anaconda Plan. On the map below, draw a line to indicate the area
in the South which the Union army hoped to contain using the Anaconda Plan. Then, on a
separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.
“. . . We rely greatly on the sure operation of a complete blockade of the Atlantic
and Gulf ports soon to commence. In connection with such blockade we propose
a powerful movement down the Mississippi to the ocean, with a cordon [line]
of posts at proper points, and the capture of Forts Jackson and Saint Philip; the
object being to clear out and keep open this great line of communication in
connection with the strict blockade of the seaboard, so as to envelop [contain] the
insurgent [rebelling] States and bring them to terms with less bloodshed than by
any other plan.”
—General Winfield Scott, letter to General George McLellan, May 3, 1861
Mapping Specialists Limited
Questions to Think About
1. What waterways and ports did Scott
propose blocking?
3. Analyze Cause and Effect In what way
might Scott’s Anaconda Plan have led
to the quick defeat of the Confederacy?
2. What was the ultimate goal of Scott’s
Anaconda Plan?
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