Anaconda Plan
The Anaconda Plan was used during the American Civil War to "squeeze" the life out of pro-slavery Southern states. General Winfield Scott proposed the plan.
Details
[change | change source]The plan began with blockading Southern ports.[1] Next the Union Army would advance down the Mississippi River, cutting the South in two.[1] Like the coils of an anaconda snake suffocating its victim, the Union Army would squeeze the South until it returned to the Union.[1]
President Lincoln approved the plan.[1] Some Northern generals, newspapers, and people made fun of it.[2] After a year of bloody fighting, it was finally put into operation.[2]
References
[change | change source]- 1 2 3 4 James M. McPherson, 'Lincoln and the Strategy of Unconditional Surrender', The Best American History Essays on Lincoln, eds. Sean Wilentz; Organization of American Historians (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p. 215
- 1 2 Michael Lanning, Civil War 100: The Stories Behind the Most Influential Battles, People and Events in the War Between the States (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2006), p. 103
