Chapter 11
Section 2: Life Behind
the Lines
Politics in the South
• Constitution recognized states
rights & slavery
–Caused problems
• Mobilizing for war
–Lee called for a draft to have
enough soldiers
•Opponents said it violated
states rights
• April 1862- Confederate Congress
passed a draft law requiring 3
years of military service for white
men 18-35
–After Antietam, age went up to
45 & again raised to 50
• Government also took charge of
the economy
• Determined how much wool,
cotton, & leather to be made
–Seized railroads
–Farmers were required to
contribute one tenth of their
produce
• Impose a personal income tax
• Authorized the army to seize male
slaves for military labor
The Impact of states’ rights
• Worked against the
Confederate government &
harmed the war effort
• Local authorities refused to
cooperate with draft officials
Seeking help from Europe
• Sent representatives to Britain &
France
–Failed to gain recognition, did
receive some help
–Great Britain agreed to allow its
ports to be used to build
privateers
• 1862- Napoleon sent troops
into Mexico, trying to rebuild a
French empire in the Americas
–To get foreign help, it would
need to prove itself on the
battlefield
Politics in the North
• Lincoln had to convince people the
war was worth fighting for
• Tensions with Great Britain
–South sent John Slidell & James
Mason to Britain
•Ship was stopped in
international waters & the
Confederates were removed &
brought to the US
• British government sent troops to
Canada & threatened war unless
they were freed
–Lincoln ordered their release
• Union protested Britain’s support
of the Confederacy
• Lincoln demanded $19 million
from Britain for damages done
by Confederate privateers
–Demand strained relations
for a decade
Republicans in Control
• Able to pass a number of laws that
would have lasting impact
• Pacific Railroad Act- allowed
federal government to give land &
money to companies for
construction of a railroad line from
Nebraska to Pacific Coast
• Homestead Act- offered free
government land to people
willing to settle on it
• Raised tariff rates to protect
northern industries
Financial Measures
• Passed to first federal tax on
income in history
–Collected 3% of income of
people earning more than $600
a year but less than $10,000
•Those making more than
$10,000 were taxed 5%
• Internal Revenue Act of 1862
imposed taxes on items such as
liquor, tobacco, medicine, &
newspaper ads
–Most ended when war was over
• Created a national currency in
1862 called greenbacks
–Not backed by gold but was
declared by Congress to be
acceptable for legal payment
of all public & private debts
Opposition to the War
• North instituted a draft in order to
raise troops
–Allowed the wealthy to buy their
way out of military service
–Riots broke out in the north
• Copperheads- raised their voices
against the war
–Warned that Republican policies
would bring a flood of freed
slaves to the north & would take
away jobs of whites
Emergency Wartime Actions
• Lincoln used extreme measures
• Used army to shut down opposition
• Problems in the border states
–Four were slave states
–Sep.1861, Lincoln ordered that all
“disloyal” members of the MD.
state legislature be arrested
• Needed the loyalty of Kentucky &
Missouri to keep control of the
Ohio & Mississippi Rivers
–Missouri- Supported an uprising
aimed at overthrowing the proconfederate state government
–Kentucky- put the state under
martial law
• In some places Lincoln suspended
the writ of habeas corpus
• More than 13,000 Americans who
objected to the Union
government’s policies were
imprisoned without trial
Emancipation & the War
• Lincoln & Slavery
–Personally opposed slavery but
didn’t make it a goal in the war
–Didn’t think he had the power to
do so
The Emancipation Proclamation
• Lincoln proclaimed that on
January 1, 1863 slaves in areas of
rebellion against the government
would be free
Reaction to the Proclamation
• Little direct impact on slavery
–Condemned in the south &
debated in the north
•Said nothing about the Border
states
• Democrats made Congressional
gains
• Ended any chance of Great Britain
or France helping the south
Africans Americans Join the War
• Emancipation Proclamation had
two immediate effects
–Inspired southern slaves who
heard about it to free themselves
by escaping to protection
–Encouraged them to join the
Union army
The Contraband Issue
• Captured items became
property of the enemy
• Many freed slaves went on to
fight
African American Soldiers
• When the war first started, Blacks
weren’t allowed to join the Union
army
–Accepted July 1862
• By 1865- nearly 180,000 Blacks
had enlisted
–Served in all Black regiments
under white officers
• Until June 1864, Blacks earned
less pay
• July 18, 1863
4th
–5 Massachusetts Infantry
commanded by Robert Gould
Shaw led the attack on Fort
Wagner, SC
The Hardships of War
• Drastically changed the culture &
economy of the South
–Prompted 1,000’s to escape
–Deleted their workforce & provided
the North with more advantages
–Women took on more responsibility
–Both sides faced labor shortages,
inflation, etc
The Southern Economy
• Face food shortages
–Made worse by planters resisting
the government pleas to shift
from raising cotton to growing
food crops
–Food riots erupted
• Industry grew during the war
–Factories to make railroad track,
guns, & ammunition
–Women filled many of these jobs
• Contributed to inflation
–Profiteers
–Bought large amounts of
goods & sold them at high
prices
• Increased desertion of the army
The Northern Economy
• War hurt industries that depended
heavily on southern markets or
southern cotton
–Most industries boomed
• Some manufacturers made
greater profits by selling inferior
products
Prison Camps
• Both sides
treated prisoners
the same
–Officers
received better
treatment
Medical Care
• Awful on both sides
• One in four soldiers didn’t
survive the war
–Mostly of disease
–Poor nutrition &
contaminated food
• Union soldiers were 3 times more
likely to die in a camp or hospital
than on the battlefield
• 4,000 women served as nurses
–Clara Barton founded the American
Red Cross
• US Sanitary Commission created in
June 1861 attempted to combat the
filth of the camps