Bathtub Blockade Running!

By ALLISON HARRELL
Texian Time Machine & Outreach Coordinator

Vocabulary: Blockade

A blockade is a war tactic where one side will block all of the ports and trade posts of the other in an attempt to keep any goods from getting to the other side.

History: ​Galveston During the Civil War

​On October 4, 1862 William B. Renshaw sailed into Galveston harbor with eight ships and demanded that the port surrender. Colonel Joseph J. Cook (the Island's Confederate commander), managed a four-day truce while he evacuated his men. By December 25, Union reinforcements had taken the town. 

Then, on January 1, 1863, the Confederates entered Galveston Bay before dawn and a battle began. By the time the fighting was over, the Confederates had lost 26 men and had 117 wounded men. The Union, however, lost 150 men plus a number of captured infantry, the Harriet Lane and the Westfield. The Confederacy held Galveston for the rest of the Civil War.​

History: The 'Anaconda Plan' Blockade

Union General Winfield Scott came up with the “Anaconda Plan,” which included blockading the South’s ports to strain the South’s economy. The blockade started April 19, 1861 (a few weeks after the war started). Five hundred Union ships were allocated to patrol from Virginia to Florida and from Florida to Texas. The blockade covered 3,500 miles of coast and 180 ports and was intended to stop the export of cotton and in the import of ammunition and war supplies.

Some Southerners attempted to run their ships through blockade; surprisingly, about 80% were successful and made it through!

Ready to give it a try? Set up a blockade in your bathtub and see if your ships can make it through the Union blockade!

Activity: Bathtub Blockade!

Materials needed:

• Copy paper (one sheet per child)
• Crayons (markers will bleed into the water)
• A clear tub, backyard pool or bathtub with a tape line on the bottom (it's best if you can access all sides of the tub)
• Water
• Boat directions  (DOWNLOAD HERE) 
• Ping pong balls or anything lightweight (like a handful of Legos!)
• 20 marbles or anything heavier that won't break or shatter (like rocks or almonds)
• Straws (one per person per boat)
• Scratch paper
• Paper towels

Directions:

• Have each child make a boat using these instructions.
• Designate an adult to be the "Union" troops and have them stand toward the end of the tub with the marbles.
• Give each child four ping pong balls and a drinking straw. Taking turns two at a time, have the children stand at the end of the tub, place their boats in the water and use the straws to blow them along.
• When the kids' boats reach the Union "tape line," the adult can drop marbles to try and sink the boat or dislodge the ping pong balls.
• Once the boats reach the opposite edge of the tub, the run has ended! Tally how many ping pong balls made it to the end. The person with the most balls left wins!