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The Confederate Blockade-Runner

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Discuss the effectiveness of the Confederate blockade-runners and why they were able to sustain the Confederacy until late in the Civil War. Early in the Civil War blockade-runners were skilled in the art of evading the many warships. There were several factors that contributed to that success. The first being the North was not able to accomplish a full blockade of the confederate states. Although, “ships were purchased by the Navy Department and re-rigged to carry out blockade duties,” there were still disadvantages that kept them from running effectively. They were not able to operate efficiently or effectively in shallow water near land because of their deep draft, and they were too slow and cumbersome to chase or catch the blockade-runners.

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