The Northern Homefront, 18611865
• Questions:
– Did northerners experience hardship and pain the
homefront ? How would their experience compare with
the south ?
– How did the Union pay for the Civil War ?
– How did the male population in the Union react to the
draft laws ?
– Did the North experience civil unrest during the war ?
– What progress did women and blacks make during the
Civil War ?
Executive Power
• The Civil War justified greatly expanded
executive power and Lincoln was quite willing to
exercise his prerogatives:
• Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus
» (“you have the body”) law officers have to file charges a
detainee - this was suspended during the Civil War
» The Union denied habeas corpus to over 14,000 people during
the war
» Ex Parte Merryman [1861] and Ex Parte Mulligan [1866] both cases judged government actions as illegal.
• Extensive use of executive orders
» binding proclamations that bypass Congressional debate and
allow for speedy action.
» Wartime presidents often employ executive orders
• Draft laws/Conscription
» Conscription Act (March 3, 1863): [1] made all men 20-45
years liable for military duty [2] inductees could furnish a
substitute or pay $300
» This caused the New York City draft riots - July 13-16, 1865-What caused this riot ? Were the rioter somewhat justified ?
» The draft raised 46,347 conscripts and 200,921 substitutes
• National Days of fasting
» Lincoln proclaimed three fast days for prayer in the Union
» The Civil War was also a moral crusade in the eyes of many
northerners.
The Economics of War
• Federal Budgets
– The 1860 federal budget was $63 million
– The 1865 federal budget was $1.89 billion
– Gold was discovered in the West during the war which
supplemented the treasury
• National Banking Act
– Banks were invited to deposit their gold and silver in
a federal depository. In exchange for this deposit the
banks were given government bonds and chartered as
national banks
• Taxation and Currency
– Income Tax
» 3% on incomes over $800 and went up on a sliding scale to 10%
– Direct Tax
» tariffs and excise taxes
– “greenbacks”
» one-eighth of Union money circulating during the war were
“greenbacks” that was not any different than Confederate paper
currency.
» The value of the “greenback” was relatively stable - at the end of
the war the greenback could be redeemed for .66 cents gold/ silver
• Inflation
» 1859: $1.00 - base year
» 1861: $1.14
» 1864: $1.78
• The War on Balance
– The following represents Union spending
during the war:
– $867 million -- taxes
– $2 billion -- loans
– six-sevenths of the cost of the war was paid with real
money