390 Chapter 14 The War to Save the Union
much less effect on heavy industry than would be true of
wars in the twentieth century. Although the economy
grew, it did so more slowly during the 1860s than in the
decades preceding and following. Prices soared begin-
ning in 1862, averaging about 80 percent over the 1860
level by the end of the war. As in the South, wages did
not keep pace. This did not make for a healthy economy,
nor did the fact that there were chronic shortages of
labor in many fields—shortages aggravated by a sharp
drop in the number of immigrants.
As the war dragged on and the continuing infla-
tion eroded purchasing power, resentment on the part
of workers deepened. During the 1850s iron molders,
cigar makers, and some other skilled workers had
formed national unions. This trend continued through
the war years. There were many strikes. Inflation and
shortages encouraged speculation and fostered a self-
ish, materialistic attitude toward life. Many contractors
took advantage of wartime confusion to sell the gov-
ernment shoddy goods. By 1864 cotton was worth
$1.90 a pound in New England. It could be had for
twenty cents a pound in the South. Although it was
illegal to traffic in the staple across the lines, unscrupu-
lous operators did so and made huge profits.
Yet the war undoubtedly hastened industrialization
and laid the basis for many other aspects of modern civ-
ilization. It posed problems of organization and plan-
ning, both military and civilian, that challenged the
talents of creative persons and thus led to a more com-
plex and efficient economy. The mechanization of
production, the growth of large corporations, the cre-
ation of a better banking system, and the emergence
of business leaders attuned to these conditions would
surely have occurred in any case, for industrialization
was under way long before the South seceded.
Nevertheless, the war greatly speeded all these changes.
Civilian participation in the war effort was far
greater than in earlier conflicts. Some churches split over
the question of emancipation, but in North and South,
church directors took the lead in recruitment drives and
in charitable activities aimed at supporting the armed
forces. In the North a Christian Commission raised the
money and coordinated the personnel needed to pro-
vide Union soldiers with half a million Bibles, several
million religious tracts, and other books, along with
fruit, coffee, and spare clothing.Women in Wartime
Many southern women took over the management of
farms and small plantations when their menfolk went
off to war. Others became volunteer nurses, and after
an initial period of resistance, the Confederate army
began to enlist women in the medical corps. At least
two female nurses, Captain Sally Tompkins and Kate
Cumming, left records of their experiences that throw
much light on how the wounded were treated during
the war. Other southern women worked as clerks in
newly organized government departments.
Southern “ladyhood” more generally was yet
another casualty of the war. The absence or death of
husbands or other male relations changed attitudes
toward gender roles. When her husband obeyed a
military order to abandon Atlanta to the advancing
Union armies, Julia Davidson, about to give birth,
denounced the “men of Atlanta” for having “run andSarah Rosetta Wakeman, a.k.a. Private Lyons Wakeman of the 153rd Regiment of New York, and Janeta
Velasquez, a.k.a. Lt. Harry T. Buford of the Confederate army, disguised themselves as men to fight.