History Lecture 11 21 2013 Women the Government and the Civil War Help for Essay 2 abolishing slavery in the 1830s and that got some people in America thinking about slavery in their own country One post Rev war influence was the fact that other countries were Key Terms New York City Draft Riot Homestead Act Pacific Railroad Act New York City Draft Riot Emancipation proclamation goes into effect Jan 1 1963 In March 1863 a draft went into effect o The nation s first draft White working class men were most upset by the draft because of the specifics behind it o All men who could fight were put into a lottery o Drafted men could avoid service by paying 300 or by finding a replacement Rich men were able to escape the draft A riot in protest of the draft erupted in NYC on July 1 1863 o Rioters were largely working class white men They did not want to have to compete for jobs with free blacks o At least 120 people were killed and 11 black men lynched Significant because it shows the rising resentment in the North after the Emancipation Proclamation o Also because it shows there were people in the North who resented slavery because it benefited them The entire North wasn t unified against slavery o Class tension around the Civil War The elite and working class were at different odds Some Civil War Statistics About 2 1 million men served in the Union Army About 900 000 men served in the Confederate Army Around 360 000 Union soldiers dies and around 260 000 Confederate soldiers died o Together that s 2 of the American population The median age of enlistment was 24 The largest single age group was 18 About 180 000 African Americans served in the Union Army during the Civil War New Type of War The first modern war The deadliest war in US history New more deadly weapons Some battles involved as many as 100 000 soldiers o Ex Gettysburg Impact of the Civil War on Women The war presented women with many new opportunities o The war forced women into public life in unprecedented ways Heads of household store managers farm managers etc o Women organized ladies aid societies to supply troops o Nearly 20 000 women worked directly for the Union war effort Nurses laundresses cooks etc Prostitution Why US prostitution experienced its largest growth between 1861 1865 o Economic opportunity o High demand Los Lonely Solders lol Female Soldiers in the Civil War Several hundred women served as men in the war o Ex Francis Canton Albert Cashier Motivated by o Patriotism o Love o Desire for adventure o Desire to live as a man Civil War and the federal government Once the South seceded Republicans controlled the Congress and used this new power to pass acts which furthered their agenda Result A massive expansion of the federal government Morrill Act 1862 Created a system of land grant colleges and universities Designed to make educational opportunities available to farmers and working people Examples Iowa State Texas A M Cornell University of Illinois Homestead Act Pacific Railroad Act 1862 Offered 160 free acres to settlers moving west Homesteads were available to anyone over age 21 who had never taken up arms against the US o This included women free slaves anyone Significant because it was the most comprehensive land distribution act across the 19 th century o Over 1 6 million homesteads were distributed 1862 By the late 1850s Republicans are urging for the federal support for a trans continental railroad Provided land grants and low interest loans to railroad companies in support of the construction of the trans continental railroad Federal support was required because the enormity of the project No company would have taken it on otherwise Significant because it linked the two coasts and received support from the federal government Transcontinental Railroad Construction was a huge undertaking o Over 2 000 miles long The labourers were Irish immigrants in the East Mormons in Utah and the Chinese in California Completed within 7 years Completed May 10 1869 Golden Spike ceremony in Promontory Summit Utah Coast to coast travel reduced from 6 months to 1 week Impact on Native Americans The Homestead Act and Transcontinental railroad both had very negative impacts on Native Americans o White people moved westward rapidly Buffalo driven close to extinction o The railroad is generally blamed by historians o People would shoot out the windows of the trains at the buffalo in sport Conclusion Beyond ending slavery and preserving the Union the Civil War did three things o Presented new opportunities to women o Helped to create a massive expansion of the federal government o Put into a motion a series of events that were devastating to Native Americans