Transcript Effects of the Civil War notes

Effects of
the Civil
War
Leading to Reconstruction
Surrender at Appomattox
• April 9, 1865
Civil War and Economics
• Overall, the
Northern economy
expanded while the
Southern economy
was shattered…
o Inflation
• 1861, average
family spent
$6.65/month on
food
• Mid-1863, spending
$68/month on
food…IF they could
find food to buy!
Inflation
• To raise revenue, both the Union and the
Confederacy issued paper money
o Northern currency succeeded because the public
maintained confidence in the Northern economy
• Currency issued by the Confederacy was backed
by gold – individual states also used its own
currency.
o Because the war weakened the Southern economy, the
public lost faith in the Confederate currency
• Value went down, prices went up
• Inflation rates in the South: 7,000% (prices 70 times
higher)
• Inflation rates in the North: 80%
Impact of the Civil War in
Economics
• Union blockade also created shortages of salt,
coffee, nails, needles, and medicines
• Decline of the plantation system
o Slaves leaving plantations
o Slave resistance
o Plantations being destroyed during battles
• New federal tax
o Congress decided to help pay for the war by tapping
American citizens’ wealth.
o In 1863, Congress enacted the tax law that authorized the
nation’s first income tax, which takes a percentage of an
individual’s income
Casualties on both sides
•
Problems other than
Casualties:
o Poor living
conditions
• Most soldiers
failed to wash
their
hands/face
once a day or
take a bath
once a week
• Body lice,
dysentery,
diarrhea
o Diet
• Beans, bacon,
square biscuits
OR “cush”
(stew of beef,
cornbread
mixed in
bacon grease)
o Medical Care
Gettysburg
Civil War Casualties in
Comparison to other wars
Economic Costs
• Union war costs totaled $2.3 billion
• Confederate War costs ran to $1 billion
• Union war costs increased the national debt from
$65 million in 1860 to $2.7 billion in 1865
• Confederate debt ran over $1.8 billion in 1864
• Union inflation peaked at 182% in 1864
• Confederate inflation rose to 7,000%
Lincoln’s Assassination
• Ford’s Theater – April 15, 1865
The assassination
John Wilkes Booth
• “Thus be it ever to tyrants” or “The
South is avenged!”
Death & Execution
Road to Reconstruction
• The Civil War had ended – slavery and secession
were gone – now the country faced 2 problems:
1) How to restore the Southern states to the Union
2) How to integrate approximately 4 million newly
freed African Americans into national life