1. Blockade of Southern ports: The Union Navy imposed a blockade on Southern ports to prevent them from exporting cotton and other goods to Europe, as well as importing war materials. This strategy aimed to damage the Southern economy and weaken its ability to fund the war effort.
2. Capture and control of the Mississippi River: The Mississippi River was a crucial transportation route for the Confederacy, connecting the eastern and western parts of the South. By controlling the river, the Union could cut off supplies and reinforcements to Confederate armies and divide the Confederacy.
3. Divide and Conquer: Lincoln sought to exploit internal divisions within the Confederacy, including those between slave owners and non-slave owners, as well as between different regions of the South. By encouraging and supporting pro-Union sentiment in the South, Lincoln aimed to weaken the Confederate government and encourage Confederate states to secede from the Confederacy.
4. Emancipation Proclamation: In January 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in Confederate territory were free. This measure had a significant impact on the South's morale, as it weakened the institution of slavery and encouraged slaves to escape to Union lines, reducing the South's labor force and its economic stability.
5. General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign: In 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant launched the Overland Campaign, which involved a series of bloody and costly battles against Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. While the campaign resulted in heavy casualties for the Union, it ultimately succeeded in wearing down and depleting the Confederate forces.
6. William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea: In November 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on the March to the Sea, leading his army from Atlanta, Georgia, to Savannah, Georgia, and then turning northward through South Carolina and North Carolina. Sherman's troops destroyed infrastructure, railroads, plantations, and other economic resources along the way, further crippling the South's economy and morale.
These strategies, combined with the superior resources and manpower of the Union, eventually led to the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865.