SOCIal DEvElOPmEntS Quiz

PDF page 760: war, the inflation rate in the South jumped to over 9,000 percent. Economically speaking, the North weathered the war better than the South, but northerners still faced economic hardships because of shortages and inflation. Government-issued greenbacks lost value at a time when consumer goods became hard to find, so prices rose. The North experienced an inflation rate of about 80 percent as prices slowly edged upward throughout the war. What might have cost about $100 before the war would

PDF page 760: war, the inflation rate in the South jumped to over 9,000 percent. Economically speaking, the North weathered the war better than the South, but northerners still faced economic hardships because of shortages and inflation. Government-issued greenbacks lost value at a time when consumer goods became hard to find, so prices rose. The North experienced an inflation rate of about 80 percent as prices slowly edged upward throughout the war. What might have cost about $100 before the war would

PDF page 761: cost about $180 after the war. However, the decision to make treasury notes legal tender helped keep inflation in check. Many people expected that as unemployment declined because of wartime production, wages would rise in proportion to prices. Unfortunately for northern workers, real wages declined by about 20 percent. In 1864, a six-member family needed $18.50 to live in New York City, but most only made $16.

PDF page 760: The Confederate government’s economic policies created many problems for the civilian population, especially shortages of goods and inflation. In the antebellum years, the South imported items such as wool, coffee, tea, salt, finished cotton, iron, nails, and shoes from the North or from Europe. While the Union blockade had little effect in the first year of the war, southerners failed to produce substitutes for needed goods, and prices began to rise. The price of salt, used to preserve meat, went from $2 per bag in 1861 to $60 per bag in 1862. As the blockade became more effective, smugglers provided some supplies. But they tended to focus on war materials and luxury items

PDF page 761: cost about $180 after the war. However, the decision to make treasury notes legal tender helped keep inflation in check. Many people expected that as unemployment declined because of wartime production, wages would rise in proportion to prices. Unfortunately for northern workers, real wages declined by about 20 percent. In 1864, a six-member family needed $18.50 to live in New York City, but most only made $16.

PDF page 761: to all sorts of means to get home.” The Confederate government tried enticing men to re-enlist once their one-year service was up, promising $50 bounty and a one month’s furlough. Enlistment still lagged, and so in March 1862, Robert E. Lee, who served as Davis’s military advisor, recommended that the government pass a conscription law. The Confederate government complied and became the first government in the nation’s history to enact a mandatory draft; the Conscription Act, passed in April 1862, was amended almost immediately to exclude any man who owned more than 20 slaves. Exempted also were militia officers, civil servants, clergymen, and teachers. It was permitted for draftees to hire substitutes; by 1863 the usual substitution rate was $6,000 in confederate money or $600 in gold. A common saying in both parts of the country hinted at the resentment that was building: the struggle was “a rich man’s war but

PDF page 761: to all sorts of means to get home.” The Confederate government tried enticing men to re-enlist once their one-year service was up, promising $50 bounty and a one month’s furlough. Enlistment still lagged, and so in March 1862, Robert E. Lee, who served as Davis’s military advisor, recommended that the government pass a conscription law. The Confederate government complied and became the first government in the nation’s history to enact a mandatory draft; the Conscription Act, passed in April 1862, was amended almost immediately to exclude any man who owned more than 20 slaves. Exempted also were militia officers, civil servants, clergymen, and teachers. It was permitted for draftees to hire substitutes; by 1863 the usual substitution rate was $6,000 in confederate money or $600 in gold. A common saying in both parts of the country hinted at the resentment that was building: the struggle was “a rich man’s war but

PDF page 761: a poor man’s fight.” By early 1863, it was obvious that the North, like the South, would have to adopt mandatory conscription, and on March 3, the U.S. Congress passed the Enrollment Act which made all physically fit citizens and aliens who had filed for naturalization eligible for the draft. It allowed no exemptions by occupation, as was the case with the similar Confederate law, but did include just as many instances of substitution. The Enrollment Act established quotas by district equal to the number of eligible soldiers in the district, minus the number who had already served; as enlistments declined, districts began to bid against each other to fill their quotas. Historian James McPherson comments, “By 1864 it was possible for recruits in some districts to parlay federal, state and local bounties into a total payment of more than

PDF page 762: was obviously “to kill off Democrats.” Other newspapers would ultimately join the fray, some denigrating the law, some denigrating those who became rioters. On July 11, 1863, the first draftees were selected by lottery in New York City; their names appeared in the newspapers the following day, the same day that the casualty lists arrived from Gettysburg. Within two days a heinous riot broke out which many historians regard as one of the worst race riots in U.S. history. Fed by racism, fear, and the fact that most men could not afford the $300 exemption fee, demonstrations broke out and quickly turned to violence. Much of this violence was directed at New York blacks whom whites feared would take the jobs of those who were conscripted. On July 13, the mob first attacked and burned a draft office in Manhattan and then turned on an orphanage that housed over 200 black children. A contemporary described the scene in this manner: Toward evening the mob, furious as demons, went yelling over to the Colored-Orphan Asylum in 5th Avenue...and rolling a barrel of kerosene in it, the whole structure was soon in a blaze, and is now a smoking ruin. What has become of the 300 poor innocent orphans I could not learn. They must have had some warning of what the rioters intended; & I trust the children were removed in time to escape a cruel death. The children escaped, thanks to the work of the New York City fire fighters and a stander-by, identified only as an “unknown Irishman,” who called out, “If there’s a man among you with a heart within him, come and help

PDF page 762: was obviously “to kill off Democrats.” Other newspapers would ultimately join the fray, some denigrating the law, some denigrating those who became rioters. On July 11, 1863, the first draftees were selected by lottery in New York City; their names appeared in the newspapers the following day, the same day that the casualty lists arrived from Gettysburg. Within two days a heinous riot broke out which many historians regard as one of the worst race riots in U.S. history. Fed by racism, fear, and the fact that most men could not afford the $300 exemption fee, demonstrations broke out and quickly turned to violence. Much of this violence was directed at New York blacks whom whites feared would take the jobs of those who were conscripted. On July 13, the mob first attacked and burned a draft office in Manhattan and then turned on an orphanage that housed over 200 black children. A contemporary described the scene in this manner: Toward evening the mob, furious as demons, went yelling over to the Colored-Orphan Asylum in 5th Avenue...and rolling a barrel of kerosene in it, the whole structure was soon in a blaze, and is now a smoking ruin. What has become of the 300 poor innocent orphans I could not learn. They must have had some warning of what the rioters intended; & I trust the children were removed in time to escape a cruel death. The children escaped, thanks to the work of the New York City fire fighters and a stander-by, identified only as an “unknown Irishman,” who called out, “If there’s a man among you with a heart within him, come and help

PDF page 763: The rioters also focused their destruction on wealthy New Yorkers, whom they thought must be Republicans, both in the streets and in their Manhattan mansions. The office of Horace Greeley, a noted abolitionist and peace supporter, was burned and the New York police force threatened as it attempted to quell the rioting. After four days, and the arrival of several thousand military troops, the rioting ended; eleven black men had been lynched, more than 100 people had been killed and 400 more injured. Property damage was estimated at $1.5 million. But the draft continued, and when the next round was announced, forty-three regiments were moved to

PDF page 765: It was left to Confederate President Jefferson Davis to personally handle the situation. According to various accounts, Davis addressed the group, offering sympathy, money from his own pockets, a promise to provide food, and a threat to have the City Guard open fire and shoot everyone if they did not clear the streets. Davis succeeded in persuading the rioters to leave, and calm was restored. Several of the rioters were arrested with their hearings dragging on through the summer and into fall. While many had a legitimate cause, others did use the event to commit crime. According to the Richmond Examiner, the rioters wanted anything but bread. When offered flour and rice as promised by Davis, many of them dropped it in the streets, preferring to rob stores of clothing and other items instead. The Richmond Examiner described the rioters as “a handful of prostitutes, professional thieves, Irish and Yankee hags, gallows-birds from all lands but our own...with a woman huckster at their head, who buys veal at the toll gate for a hundred and sells the same for two hundred and fifty

PDF page 765: in the morning market...” The “huckster” was Mary Jackson, described in a later article in the Examiner as, “a good specimen of a forty year old Amazon, with the eye of the Devil” who came to town that day brandishing a bowie knife and later a pistol as well as the knife and demanding “bread or