The Civil War divided both the North and South as not all supported the war or reasons for fighting. In the South, only half of Georgia supported secession and North Carolina held many peace protests. While wealthy plantation regions strongly backed the Confederacy, poor rural areas were less supportive. States' rights debates caused divisions around issues like conscription. The Emancipation Proclamation and draft laws were also unpopular with some. Throughout the war, dissent groups in both the North and South sought to disrupt it through actions like aiding desertion or prisoners. The war had huge social and economic impacts, with new roles for women, the end of slavery, inflation, shortages and changing industry in the North and South.
2. Nation divided as well as divisions in the
North & South
Northerners: some did not support the war or
want to restore the Union
Southerners: some did not support a war to
defend slavery or secession
3. Georgia
Only half supported secession
North Carolina
Held nearly 100 peace protests
Supplied second most number of troops to
Confederate army
Regions w/ large plantations supported the more
stronger than poor black country regions
States’ Rights
Created divisions
Objections to officers from other states leading
troops
Objection to Confederate government forcing men to
do military service
4. Many opposed the Emancipation
Proclamation
Others believed South had a right to secede
Northern Democrats
Blamed Lincoln & Republicans of forcing the
South into War
Called Copperheads; strongest in Ohio, Indiana, &
Illinois; criticized the war & called for peace
5. People on both sides tried to disrupt the war
Tried to encourage soldiers to desert
Helped prisoners of war escape
Southern peace groups worked against the
Confederacy
Tried to prevent men from volunteering for military
service
Habeas Corpus suspended
Lincoln & Jefferson Davis suspended Habeas Corpus in
some places (constitutional protection against
unlawful imprisonment)
Empowered judges to determine if prisoners were being
legally held
13,000 people in the North were arrested and jailed
without trials
6. April 1862
South: men aged 18-35 & later to 50 were drafted into
the army
March 1863
North: U.S. Congress created a military draft
Draft laws
Incomplete & discriminatory
Could hire a substitute to avoid service
Could buy out by paying the government $300.00
Critics began calling the Civil War “a rich man’s war and
a poor man’s fight”
Southern governors helped their citizens evade the draft
July 1863
Riots took place in New York City to show opposition to
the draft
7. Bounty, or lump sum, of $1,500 was paid for
a 3-year enlistment
This led to the practice of bounty jumping
A man would enlist, collect his bounty and then
desert, only to reenlist somewhere else
8. Northern Industries
boomed during the war; turned out goods Union needed
Draft did drain away workers
August 1861
Congress levied 1st income tax in history
Union printed $400 million of paper money
Pay for expenses
1st federal paper money printed
Led to inflation; prices of goods in raised 80% during the war in
the North
South
Less able to sustain war
Union blockade prevented ability to raise money
Shortages made goods more expensive
Led to greater inflation than in the North
$18 shoes now cost $800
Food production fell as Union armies destroyed farmland &
crops
Led to riots for food, cloth, & shoes
9. 400 women disguised as men fought in the war
Became spies
Took over businesses, farms, plantations for men
who were fighting in the war
Some women in the South worked the field to meet
the needs of workers
Work in factories
Became teachers & nurses
Barriers to women fell
Elizabeth Blackwell became 1st female physician
Dorothea Dix became head of Union army nurses
Harriet Tubman continued to lead enslaved people to
freedom
Clara Barton cared for wounded soldiers on the
battlefield