What was one reason the south faced severe economic problems during the civil war? southern landowners refused to sell their cotton to northern businesses. northern industries needed more cotton than the south could produce. southern women refused to work during the war. the union blocked trade and transportation routes.

The answer is The Union blocked trade and transportation routes.

Explanation:

It i because the Union armies blocked the trade routes, both Land and Maritime.

Union, having more population, more resources and a better economy was able to raise a powerful fleet of their own. In fact one of the first things the Union president Abraham Lincoln did was to blockade the coastal areas of the South to take down their economy.