Page 373 - American Stories, A History of the United States

When northern forces penetrated the South, they created new gaps in the system.
15.1 As a result, much of the corn or livestock that was raised could not reach the peo-
ple who needed it. Although well armed, Confederate soldiers were increasingly
undernourished, and by 1863, civilians in urban areas were rioting to protest shortages
15.2 of food. To supply the troops, the Confederate commissary resorted to the impress-
ment of agricultural produce at below the market price, a policy that farmers and local
politicians resisted so vigorously that it eventually had to be abandoned.

15.3 Another challenge both sides faced was how to finance the struggle. Although they
imposed special war taxes, neither side was willing to resort to the heavy taxation that
was needed to maintain fiscal integrity. Americans, it seems, were more willing to die
for their government than to pay for it. Besides floating loans and selling bonds, both
15.4
treasuries deliberately inflated the currency by printing vast amounts of paper money
that could not be redeemed in gold and silver. In August 1861, the Confederacy issued
$100 million of such currency. In early 1862, the Union printed $150 million in Trea-
greenbacks Paper currency sury notes, known as greenbacks because of their color. The presses rolled throughout
issued by the Union during the the war, and runaway inflation was the inevitable result. The problem was less severe in
Civil War. the North because its economy was stronger, war taxes on income were easier to collect,
Quick Check and bond issues were more successful.
Which side had a stronger economy,
and why?
Political Leadership: Northern Success and Southern Failure

Total war also forced political adjustments. Both the Union and the Confederacy had
to decide how much democracy and individual freedom could be permitted when mili-
tary success required an unprecedented exercise of government authority. Since both
constitutions made the president commander in chief of the army and navy, Lincoln
and Jefferson Davis took actions that would have been regarded as arbitrary or even
tyrannical in peacetime.
Lincoln was especially bold in assuming new executive powers. After the fighting
started at Fort Sumter, he expanded the regular army and advanced public money to
private individuals without congressional authorization. On April 27, 1861, he declared
martial law, which enabled the military to arrest civilians suspected of aiding the enemy,
and suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the area between Philadelphia and Wash-
ington, because of mob attacks on Union troops in Baltimore. Suspending the writ
enabled the government to arrest Confederate sympathizers and hold them without
trial. In September 1862, Lincoln extended this authority to all parts of the United States
where “disloyal” elements were active. Such willingness to interfere with civil liberties
was unprecedented and possibly unconstitutional, but Lincoln argued that “necessity”
justified a flexible interpretation of his war powers. For critics of suspension, he had a
question: “Are all the laws, but one, to go unexecuted, and the government itself to go
to pieces, lest that one be violated?” In fact, however, most of the thousands of civilians
military authorities arrested were not exercising their right to criticize the government
but were suspected deserters and draft dodgers, refugees, smugglers, or people simply
found wandering in areas under military control.
For the most part, the Lincoln administration tolerated a broad spectrum of politi-
cal dissent. Although the government briefly closed down a few newspapers when they
allegedly published false information or military secrets, anti-administration journals
were allowed to criticize the president and his party at will. A few politicians were
arrested for pro-Confederate activity, but many “Peace Democrats”—who called for
restoring the Union by negotiation rather than force—ran for office and sat in Con-
gress and state legislatures. They had ample opportunity to present their views to the
public. In fact, vigorous two-party competition in the North during the Civil War
strengthened Lincoln’s hand. Since his war policies were also the platform of his party,
he could usually rely on unified partisan backing for his most controversial decisions.
Lincoln was singularly adept at the art of party leadership; he accommodated fac-
tions and defined party issues and principles in a way that would encourage unity and
dedication to the cause. Since the Republican party was the main vehicle for mobilizing
340