Education

The Civil War: Savannah's Loss, Atlanta's Gain

Bruce Hetherington at Oglethorpe University and Dr. Frances Harrold at Georgia State University explain that after Union ships enforced a blockade of Southern ports and harbors during the Civil War, Atlanta grew as a result.

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Vocabulary

The Civil War: Savannah's Loss, Atlanta's Gain

From Georgia Stories, Change and Conflict

The Civil War: Savannah's Loss, Atlanta's Gain

Social Studies

SS8H5.b

Explain Georgia's role in the Civil War; include the Union blockade of Georgia's coast, the Emancipation Proclamation, Chickamauga, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Andersonville.

1. Explain how blockades are used as a tactic of war.

2. To what degree was a blockade runner like an entrepreneur?

3. How did the fall of savannah to the Union affect Georgia during the Civil War?

4. Explain the meaning behind the phrase from the film, "what was bad for Savannah was good for Atlanta."

1. Create a newspaper banner headline and article (with pictures from the period) about the blockade and the blockade runners.

2. Look up the words “entrepreneur” and “entrepreneurial,” and then identify people whose actions during the Civil War fit those definitions. Explain what makes their actions qualify as entrepreneurial.

proclamation: a formal announcement (from "proclaim")

insurrection: a rebellion against the government

militia: a military group that offers its services to the government

blockade: to cut off a country's ability to trade with other countries via a military barricade

privateer: a privately-owned ship that the government allows to be used as a military vessel

maritime: relating to the sea

brig: sailing vessel with two masts (short for "brigantine")

1. Explain how blockades are used as a tactic of war.
A blockade is the economic isolation of a country by use of force. No one can enter or leave the country; people attempting to do so are stopped by the blockaders. Thus, in principle, nobody can trade with a blockaded country. There are at least two reasons, one official and one tacitly understood. Officially, Lincoln blockaded the Confederacy to strengthen national security and to weaken the Confederate economy.

2. To what degree was a blockade runner like an entrepreneur?
Blockade runners are attempting to make money by selling goods that are scarce. Like an entrepreneur they evaluate the risk involved in a business enterprise and the likelihood that it will a profit.

3. How did the fall of Savannah to the Union affect Georgia during the Civil War?
Savannah was the largest port in Georgia during the Civil War and one of the biggest in the South. Many of the goods that Georgians needed and wanted came by way of trade through Savannah. Although blockade runners slipped past the Union Navy at the beginning of the war and were able to bring goods in and out of Savannah, the fall of the city eliminated this avenue of trade for Georgians and greatly decreased the availability of necessities for the rest of the war.

4. Explain the meaning behind the phrase from the film, "what was bad for Savannah was good for Atlanta."
Dr. Frances Harrold explains that the blockade of Savannah and its eventual fall to the Union brought increased trade and manufacturing to Atlanta. A shortage of supplies near the end of the war brought business to Atlanta and led to the city's growth and resurgence in the aftermath.

Georgia Stories Segments

Civil War

As the threat of abolition intensified with the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, Georgia joined other slave-holding states in seceding from the Union to form a new nation, the Confederate States of America. Over the next four years, Georgia witnessed success on the battlefield and devastation in its capital as Sherman marched from the Atlanta campaign to the sea. At the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, America had suffered its deadliest war, and the charred remains of Georgia were readmitted to the United States.