Step 1: The Anaconda plan was to completely blockade all ports that were in any way related to the southern territories. By blocking all ports, they would prevent them from ever leaving the territory. This step was conducted by the Navy.
Step 2: It was about cutting it off from help from the Americas. It was about a continental blockade where the southerners would be surrounded from all sides, from Northern states in the north, to northern blockades in the East and West.
