Term: Civil War: home front
Definition:
Recruitment poster from Grant Co., Wis., 1862
(WHi-11475)
The war brought prosperity to people who stayed behind in Wisconsin. Railroads were overwhelmed with business, farmers faced labor shortages that increased wages for hired hands, crop prices multiplied as the demand for wheat skyrocketed, and the need for agricultural products caused a boom in the manufacture of farming equipment. Some Wisconsin residents opposed the war: many Democrats thought state's rights should prevail, or that the nation had been taken over by Republican extremists; the draft that began in 1862 sparked riots in Port Washington, Milwaukee, and West Bend. Meanwhile, Wisconsin women organized aid societies that improved living conditions among soldiers and sent supplies to the frontlines and to hospitals. View more information elsewhere at wisconsinhistory.org.
View related articles at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.
[Source: Turning Points in Wisconsin History]
