Refugees of the War"The woods are full of refugees--" ~ Dolly Lunt Burge, July 22nd, 1864, Newborn, Georgia The war's destruction and casualties left many people with no choice but to flee from their homes. The fighting often made it unsafe for people to live, forcing them out and away from the combat. Besides, sometimes if the soldiers of an army would pillage and raid the houses of whatever area they were passing through, leading to a seize of property and various essential and significant items. Even if they didn't leave originally, there was always the possibility that their house, crops, or other important parts of their lives, would be damaged or ruined.
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The South was definitely more severely affected by the war, as not only was the south where most of the battles were fought (see Destruction tab), but a far higher percentage of people went off to war in the South than did in the North. This left the few left in charge of more with less.
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War is expensive. The USA realized this quite fast, as they would need quite a lot of money in order to finace such a war effort. Prices of everyday things jumped accordingly, putting yet more strain on the already worn civilians.
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"The prices of everything are very high corn 7 dollars a bushel calico 10 dollar a yard salt 60 dollars a hundred cotton from 60 to 80 cents a pound everything in like ratio." ~ Dolly Lunt Burge |
LEGAL TENDER ACT OF 1862
The Legal Tender Act passed on February 25, 1862. This allowed the USA to be able to fund the Civil War, by printing out paper money called greenbacks. This was monumental as it eliminated the gold standard; this new set of money would no longer be based upon an amount of gold or silver. All in all, the government could then print roughly $150 million worth of greenbacks to finace the war effort.
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