17.2 War Affects Society

1. 17.2 War Affects Society • Disagreement About the War • By the spring of 1863, riots had broken out in several Southern towns. • Soldiers were defecting from the Confederate Army because Southerners were growing tired of the war. • (I guess the “wait them out” strategy had not worked so well.)

2. The same concept of states rights which enabled them to leave the Union also prevented them from forming a cohesive country. • In the North, Lincoln’s main opponents were called “copperheads” (see cartoon on p. 492). • Lincoln had these people arrested and held without trial (trampling on rights?)

3. The Draft Laws • As the war dragged on, both North and South had to institute a draft in order to get enough soldiers. • Southern draft: men between 18 and 45; men who owned more than 20 slaves were exempt; wealthy men could hire substitutes who were usually from a poor family. • This caused the Southerners to call the Civil War a “rich man’s war, but a poor man’s fight.”

4. Union men could also hire substitutes. • The North gave people who volunteered to fight $300.00, so they didn’t have to draft as many men. • In July, 1863 there were draft riots in New York City and over 100 people were killed.

5. Economic Effects of War • Most economic suffering was in the South. • The South had less money to start with and most of the battles were fought there. • Food shortages were common in the South because so many of the farmers were fighting in the war and also because there was no transportation for the food.

6. So this is how we got income taxes… • The South also experienced inflation which is when money has less value and at the same time, the price of goods goes up. • The North also had inflation, but not as much, and the North’s economy benefitted from the rise in demand for manufactured goods. • This was the point at which industry begins to replace farming as the main part of the U.S. economy. • In 1861, the U.S. passed the first ever Income Tax which was designed to help the North pay for the war.

8. Resistance by Slaves • During the war there was a growing resistance by slaves. • Some actually ran away, but even those left behind slowed the pace of their work. • Sometimes slaves even destroyed crops and/or farm equipment in an effort to help bring down the Southern economy. • As the Union forces pushed south, slaves would join the Union Army. • By the end of the war as many as 500,000 slaves had run away.

9. Women Aid in the War Effort • With most of the men away at war in both the North and South, women took on more responsibility on farms, in offices, and in industry. • Women also served on the front lines as nurses and workers. • Women also were spies for both sides during the war.

10. Clara Barton: relief agency; “angel of the battlefield; founded the Red Cross • Dorothea Dix: had 3000 nurses working under her supervision in Union hospitals. • Harriet Tubman: spy for the north

11. Civil War Prison Camps • Prison camps on both sides had terrible living conditions. • Food was scarce and contaminated as well as water. • Inmates were often exposed to the weather and many died from disease and starvation. • About 50,000 men died in prison camps on both sides of the war. (p. 495)