Rinky dink towns. New Orleans was the second busiest port in the US in the 1850s. By some estimates, it also had the largest cotton and slave markets in the country (Charleston and Washington DC also claimed the largest slave market -- the second busiest cotton port was Mobile, Alabama).
In 1840, New Orleans was the third largest city in the country after New York and Baltimore. The population more than doubled from 1830 to 1840. In 1850, it was the fifth largest (Philadelphia and Boston having crept in ahead of NOLA).
So I don't know what Charleston or Savannah were up to, but New Orleans was doing pretty well before the Civil War, and no Yankee tariff or shipping conspiracies kept it down.
“In 1840, New Orleans was the third largest city in the country after New York and Baltimore. The population more than doubled from 1830 to 1840. In 1850, it was the fifth largest (Philadelphia and Boston having crept in ahead of NOLA).”
1840? 1850? Whats that got to do with the Civil War?
Show me evidence that 65% of all US exports in 1861 were not Soutern Cotton and not being shipped out of New York.