4. why do you think so many major U. S. cities were founded next to rivers and bodies of water?

 Most reasons are self-explanatory. Clearly, you'll need access to water for drinking. Location near to a large body of water is also useful for transportation and trade. Local access to a plethora of natural resources is obviously also highly beneficial, you need this stuff to build cities.

Explanation:

Towns began to develop along river valleys, where water was available. There were some important reasons for this. The land along the rivers is fertile. If there is fertile land, then crops can be grown.

union blockade

explanation:

the union blockade in the american civil war was a naval strategy by the united states to prevent the confederacy from trading.

the blockade was proclaimed by president abraham lincoln in april 1861, and required the monitoring of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of atlantic and gulf coastline, including 12 major ports, notably new orleans and mobile. those blockade runners fast enough to evade the union navy could only carry a small fraction of the supplies needed. they were operated largely by british citizens, making use of neutral ports such as havana, nassau and bermuda. the union commissioned around 500 ships, which destroyed or captured about 1,500 blockade runners over the course of the war.

assuming that by westerners you mean americans. that they were mean and controlling and abusive to its peasants.

explanation: