1 Hunter Gore 12-5-2013 HIS 400 Research Final Food Shortages on the Confederate Home Front The United

States Civil War was the war that holds the record for the largest number of fatalities than any other war in Americas history. However, what is not probably ever thought about are the kinds of shortages, hardships, and heartaches the people on the Civil War home front suffered through. Guns, cannons, and bayonets were not the only things that made the Civil War a violent war. The war also greatly affected those living on the home front. All sorts of shortages took their toll on many people in the South. The South suffered from a range of shortages in food, clothing, housing, and medicine. In particular, food shortages in the Confederacy became an extreme issue of mere survival for both the army and the home front. A major overhaul shift occurred for farmers who were once large cash crop growers and now had become mere planters of food crops to supply the Confederacy on both the home front and the army. However, once Southern newspapers began shedding light on the severe shortage issues is exactly when the Confederate home front began to raise questions and doubts about their ability to actually win the war. A certain newspaper in Staunton County, Virginia, titled The Spectator, blamed farmers for the cause of the Confederates food shortages in the long run because of their utter greediness mentality. However the farmers greed for his own benefit would eventually be the ultimate weakness of the Confederates and lead to their destruction. In Virginia, farmers were looked to as a sign of hope for survival, but what the people began to see as time progressed is that farmers were using their food crops to

2 rip the citizens off for major profit gains. These food shortages would truly test the Confederates will to keep up in both the war and most importantly the home front. Southern farmers would be put to the ultimate test of both survival and maintaining the Confederate food supplies and the economy. The Confederate home front was directly affected almost from the very beginning of the war. Once southern men left their homes to go and fight for in the Confederate army, they left behind their families to tend to taking care of the home. This included all the regular chores, but more importantly survival of the family. Only a year or two into the war, food shortages plagued the South. Food shortages became such a huge issue in the quality of everyday life for the Confederate citizens. Even smaller food goods for example bread and salt were keys to survival in the South. During the war, salt was the primary preservative of meats and other foods, and was used in massive quantities all across the country. Therefore, it is easy to see how when the Confederate citizens run out of their salt supplies, they no longer have a way of preserving meats and other food goods. Salt was not only a preservative in the war, but it was and still remains a necessary ingredient for the human body to survive. Salt contains sodium ions, or iodine that are necessary to perform a variety of necessary functions for our bodies. Since the human body does not produce salt on its own, it has to be acquired through the intake of foods containing salt. Knowing this, we can tell that losing a supply of something as small as a grain of salt could have such a massive impact on the Confederate home front, as well as the outcome of Civil War. For most of the duration of the war the Confederate home front had several issues resulting from these shortages and the results were usually not so peaceful. Far to often these shortages resulted in riots on the home front in cities, armed

3 women revolting in public, or even an overhaul in shifting from cash crops to food crop production, etc. Therefore, what were the specific results of these food shortages on the Confederate home front during the war and how did they negatively affect the civilian population? Perhaps the most important question of all, what were the newspapers stories like about these shortages in the war and who was subject to blame for them? To fully understand the impact of the shortages, one must first learn what the situation was like on the Confederate home front from the beginning of the war in regards to its economy. In Mobleys book Weary of War; Mobley accomplishes this to near perfection. Mobley illustrates what the Souths main goals were at the time of the beginning of the war. Mobley stated that, The welfare of the home-front population depended in large measure on the wartime Souths ability to grow, manufacture, and distribute food and supplies. An effective Federal coastal blockade and the disappearance of imports from the North forced the Confederate States of America to produce more at home. The farms and plantations had to yield more foodstuffs, and new or expanded industries had the difficult task of manufacturing products that therefore had been imported.1 Here, Mobley is summarizing the big picture of the Souths economy and it how it laid the foundation for food shortages in the long run for the South. Mobley added a summary of what a particular Southern newspaper, The Charleston Mercury, had to proclaim about the Southern economy. The newspaper read, We are eminently an agricultural people; yet distinguished from other tillers of the soil by this, that the larger part of our labor is directed to production of commodities intended for consumption abroad, and paid for by the importation of foreign production from all the nations of the

Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. (Connecticut. Praeger, 2008) p.19

4 world.2 Mobley stated that, the newspaper maintained that the fledging Confederate government should have only limited power imposing duties or taxes or interfering with such a system. The result of the Southern agricultural cash crop economy was its greatest weakness. An agricultural economy based upon slave labor alone and the exporting of major cash crops like cotton or tobacco, made it extremely difficult for the Confederates to change itself into a wartime producer of things like grain and livestock to survive the duration of the war against the Union. Mobley inputted that such a transformation was never completely successful. As a result foodstuffs were frequently in short supply, and shortages for both soldiers and civilians contributed to the Confederate defeat.3 In Henry Commagers book, The Defeat of the Confederacy, he summarizes the overall effectiveness of the Unions naval blockade on the South. He stated, As far as a military measure, the blockade was of vital importance in the operations of the war; and it has been commonly said that without it hostilities would have been protracted much longer, and would have been far more bitter and bloodier than they were. The blockades biggest importance lay in the isolation of the South and in their dependence on the outside world for the necessities of life.4 The idea behind the blockade was to primarily cut off the South trade within itself and international trade. The exclusion cut off manufactured goods and weapons from entering the Confederacy, while also preventing the South from exporting out their most valuable trading collateral, which was cotton.

Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. (Connecticut. Praeger, 2008) p.20 Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. p. 21 4 Commager, Henry. The Defeat of the Confederacy. (Princeton, NJ, 1964) pp.91-95
2 3

5 Commager inputted that, When the exportation was cut off, the Government was deprived of its revenues for the war, and the people of the very means of existence.5 For the Confederates this primarily cash crop agricultural economy would eventually cause their slow demise. Keep in mind that the Confederates had to keep both their army and their home front supplied throughout the war for survival. To ensure adequate supplies and prevent widespread hunger and starvation, the Southern states needed to concentrate on growing food crops. But the chief economic staple for planters and farmers before the war had been cotton, and many growers wanted to continue to devote their acreage to what had been the Souths largest agricultural moneymaker.6 The Confederate government also did not want the home fronts to stop production of cotton either. Many governmental policies stated that cotton was the critical part of the Confederacys financial and foreign policy. These cash crops were the Souths key to having any sort of trade with other nations and even inside the United States up until the Civil War. Both the Confederate and state governments viewed cotton as an essential element in securing foreign loans and credit for needed supplies slipped through the blockade. Perhaps a larger scale hope for the Davis government was that the food shortages would assist in gaining European aid from France or Britain. But as the war continued and the blockade tightened, cotton diplomacy failed, and cottons value as a source of national revenue and as a diplomatic device declined. Nevertheless, the price of cotton continued to climb, and planters persisted in growing large quantities of it.7

Commager, Henry. The Defeat of the Confederacy. p. 96 Commager, Henry. The Defeat of the Confederacy. p.97 7 Commager, Henry. The Defeat of the Confederacy. p.97-99
5 6

6 When the government decided to try and dictate which crops farmers were to grow, and a gradual decrease of growing cotton, the home front began to see the effects of the war. Farmers were not willing to drop their most valuable crop for the good of the Confederate army. The Confederate Congress discussed limiting cotton production but in the end decided that passing a law to that effect would intrude on the rights of the states. Only a nonbinding resolution urging Southerners to plant food crops instead of cotton and tobacco was forthcoming from the lawmakers in Richmond.8 In 1863, President Davis asked Southerners on the home front to stop voluntarily from planting any more cotton or tobacco. This request was for the most part ignored by most of the South. Farmers were typically greedy when it came to their cotton and tobacco and saw it fit to meet their own needs before lending aid to the Confederate homeland. It wasnt long before producing too much cotton would catch up to the Confederacy. Before the war, in order to devote as much land as possible to cotton, the South had imported from the northwest many of its food supplies.9 The naval blockade on the south caused a cut off of international trade support for the South. The South now had to improvise and make more fields to produce more of its own food supplies such as corn, wheat, pork, and beef. The major crop that was implemented for food for the army, home front, and their animals was corn. Mobley quoted a Georgian newspaper, Planters had rather raise a pound of cotton at three cents a pound than a pound of bacon at a dollar.10 Mobley said, The shortage Southerners felt most was limited food supplies.

Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. pp. 20-22 Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. pp. 22-24 10 Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. p. 24
8 9

7 Much of the crop and livestock production on Confederate farms went to feed the army, but with so many men serving in the ranks, a diminished labor force existed.11 Probably the most important hindrance to the Southern home front was the limited supply of salt in the war. If the food shortages were not bad enough the salt shortage singlehandedly almost won the war for the North. Again Mobley stated that a lack of salt hindered the preserving and shipping of beef and pork, significant components of the Southern diet. The Confederates had some salt producing cities in their territory in Saltville, Virginia and some in Alabama and Louisiana, but these producers never could produce enough to supply the entire Confederate States of America. The blockade contributed to the problem of insufficient salt which had largely been imported from Europe and the West Indies prior to the war.12 Andrew Smith evaluates the value of salt of the Southern home front in his book, Starving the South. He stated, Prior to the Civil War, Southerners used an estimated 450 million pounds of salt annually. Very little salt was produced in the antebellum South; most of it came from Wales on ships, which carried the salt as ballast when they sailed to Southern ports to pick up cotton.13 Early in the war the North targeted the mostly all of the Souths salt production facilities to ensure the South had no way of keeping up with the demand for it. Many of the plantation owners took their slaves inland, where often, both master and slave became subsistence farmers.14 In Michael Varholas book, Everyday Life During the Civil War, he breaks down the key details of the importance and demand for salt in the South. Varhola described salt Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. p. 33 Mobley, Joe. Weary of War. p. 34 13 Smith, Andrew. Starving the South. (New York, 2011) p.19 14 Smith, Andrew. Starving the South. p. 22
11 12

8 as this, Salt was used widely for preserving meat in the nineteenth century, but was often in short supply or completely unavailable in the South during the Civil War. There were centers of salt production in the South, but transporting it to where it was needed became impossible as the war dragged on, the Confederate infrastructure collapsed, and hoarding and speculation increased. Such shortages limited the amount of food that could be preserved for the C.S. army, not to mention civilians, and contributed to the failure of the Southern war effort.15 Salt was also gathered along the coastlines by evaporating seawater but this was used as much. When the Southerners did not have any salt to season or cook with, they found many goods that imitated salt in foods. For example, sometimes things like a pinch of wood or a dash of gunpowder were used as salt replacements in flavoring foods.16 Although salt was the major good that imposed a major problem for the Confederate war efforts and satisfactory home front, there were several other food goods Varhola describes that Southerners had to learn to live without. He provides the reader with information about a cookbook title The Confederate Receipt Book. Published in 1863, this cookbook provides us with information about how the Confederates used substitutes for traditional food items or recipe ingredients. For instance, Leavening for bread was often unavailable, and an ersatz version could be made by slowly burning red corncobs in a pan over a bed of coals until they were reduced to a fine white ash.17 Varhola also investigates the effects of these shortages of goods in relation to their prices in the Confederate economy. He implies, Shortages made food items more

Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. (Ohio, 1999) p.85 Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p. 86 17 Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p.86
15 16

9 expensive throughout the country. In the South, however, shortages caused prices to soar out of control, inflicting untold hardships on the Confederate home front. For example, a typical Southern familys food bill was $6.65 per month at the time of secession, $68 per month in 1863 and $400 per month in 1864.18 Ultimately prices were rising approximately ten percent each month in the war for the Confederacy. Confederate currency was so devalued that it quite often could not be used to buy food at all, necessitating barter.19 Part of the supply crises in the South could be attributed to the Union blockade. Beyond that, however, prices in for civilians were also affected by the fact that so much food was diverted to the military. For example, according to Southerner Judith McGuire, butter and milk are scarce because cattle had to go the armies.20 As for areas that were under Union occupation, goods were much more scarce or unavailable altogether. Prices were also driven upward by speculators from both the North and the South, who were increasingly hated for growing rich upon other peoples suffering. For example, in December 1864, a Baptist preacher in Richmond was attacked for selling flour and meal at inflated prices.21 Varhola breaks down the actual cost of some of the shortaged goods from year to year in the war. To illustrate, for example: the cost of bacon in 1861 was 12.5 cents per pound, in 1862 it costs 75 cents per pound, in 1863 it costs anywhere from $1.25-$6.00 per pound, in 1864 about $9 per pound and finally in 1865 it was an outrageous $11-$13 per pound.22

Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p.86 Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p. 87 20 Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p. 87 21 Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p. 87 22 Varhola, Michael. Everyday Life in the Civil War. p. 87
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10 Although salt was the most significant shortage for the Confederates, perhaps the second largest shortage was bread. In 1863 the Confederate home front would witness its first bread riot in Richmond, Virginia at Belvidere Hill Baptist Church. A group of strong-willed women gathered at the church to do something about their starving families on the home front. Smith described the riot as, A few hundred women and children rendezvoused at the church. Armed with stones, knives, clubs, hatchets, and guns. The women were determined to acquire the food by any means necessary. At 9 A.M. the women headed for the governors residence on Richmonds Capitol Square. Thus began the largest riot in the Confederacy during the Civil War.23 From the first shot fired at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, until the Confederate armies surrendered four years later, food played a crucial role in the Civil War. While there were many reasons in the Confederates defeat, hunger is what tipped the scales in favor of the Souths surrender.24 Though the Confederates had their share of hardships from these shortages, the home front however, was not always a peaceful as one might think during the war. Once Southern newspapers began shedding light on the severe shortage issues is exactly when the Confederate home front began to raise questions and doubts about actually winning the war. Farmers would be the main cause of the Confederates shortages in the long run because of their utter greediness mentality. The home front now saw that in a sense, their patriotism was just a front and in reality, they were being used so that the Confederate army could survive another day in a war that was virtually unwinnable. In a newspaper article from The Spectator titled, What Shall We Wear, the editor writes about the fact
23 24

Smith, Andrew. Starving the South. p. 58 Smith, Andrew. Starving the South. p. 208

11 that the Confederate leaders urged its citizens on the home front to economize so that more goods could be donated for use of the army. Specifically the article asked the citizens to dress modestly and as cheaply as possible for the remaining duration of the war. The article stated, Economy is a commendable virtue at any time, but it now becomes a patriotic duty. The people should now economize as much as possible, that they may have more means to contribute to the defense of the State, and to the comfort and necessities of our soldiers.25 The article goes on to say that men and women should only purchase exactly what is required to survive only, and that they should be prepared to bear the suffering for the benefit of the soldiers. It also states that men and women alike should give up their fine clothing and no longer wear any of it. The article stated, The wealthy can afford to do this without any suspicion that it is the consequence of pecuniary necessity, and it will secure praise of doing so through laudable motives. But as long as costly apparel is considered a badge of respectability and a pass-port to good society, the majority cannot afford to consult the economy, unless the recognized leaders of the styles should make it fashionable to do so.26 The article poses a major question to the ladies of the home front, asking, Who will set the example? and What lady will lead in this laudable enterprise?27 These questions were referring to which lady of the home front would be the first to stop wearing her fine clothes and only wear cheap clothing for the benefit of the army. Perhaps the article is attempting to portray that the Confederates in 1861 were not taking the war serious enough for their own good. Here, this newspaper is asking the home front to change what they wear at home while in

The Spectator. June 4, 1861, p.2.c.2, What Shall We Wear The Spectator. June 4, 1861, p.2.c.2, What Shall We Wear 27 The Spectator. June 4, 1861, p.2.c.2, What Shall We Wear
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12 reality the Confederates lack the ability to forsee what they really will need in the near future is more food supplies which will be the spark to their slow demise. An article from the newspaper; The Spectator titled, The Resources of the South was published in 1861 and really portrayed the South as a vastly rich land that was full of plentiful resources for the war against the North. The article stated, There is no country as rich in resources as the South. It is Gods favored region on which his hand has lavished boundless wealth.28 It goes on to say that, No other portion of the earth possesses such a combination of natural productions and resources.29 The next segment however is what I found to be the most ironic. The article reads, In the variety and value of her vegetable productions the South is without rival. She excels the North in the growth of cereals, while to these she adds cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, indigo, the elements of an immense commerce, to whose expansion are no limits.30 It goes on to read, In mineral resources, also, the South possesses exhaustless wealth. She has coal and iron enough to supply the world, and is rich in lead, zinc, copper, and also in manganese, saltpeter, sulphur, salt, and other minerals.31 Here it seems that the articles main goal is to persuade the Confederate home front population in Augusta that the South has plenty of resources and that its citizens should not have to endure any shortages of goods in through the war. I found this newspaper article to be quite ironic that here the newspaper is stating that the South was Gods country and blessed with an immense amount of resources and that they had a great supply of salt, when in reality in about one year, the entire Confederacy home front would be suffering from a shortage of salt. The The Spectator. October.1, 1861. p.. 2.c.1. The Resources of the South The Spectator. October.1, 1861. p.. 2.c.1. The Resources of the South 30 The Spectator. October.1, 1861. p.. 2.c.1. The Resources of the South 31 The Spectator. October.1, 1861. p.. 2.c.1. The Resources of the South
28 29

13 article also talked about the immense slave population of the South that was about four and a half million slaves. The articles point was that the South had an immensely powerful labor supply, but in reality once the war began the slaves would start becoming uneasy and would eventually slowly escape the Confederacy. Another article titled, Provide the Staff of Life, from the newspaper The Spectator. The article was about how the Confederacy urged its farmers to grow food crops and build up food stores rather than raising cash crops. This is perhaps the biggest downfall of the entire Confederate home front and the Confederate government. The article reads, It can avail to them but little to make large crops of cotton and tobacco with no market for either, and even if they could sell all they could raise, it could advance but little the cause of the South in the absence of an ample supply of meat and bread. These we can obtain with no quarter if we fail to raise them, and he is a true patriot who will enlarge his corn and wheat fields, and multiply his hogs, sheep, and cattle, with an eye to the necessities of his country.32 It goes on to say that, The soldier who hazards his life on the battlefield and his health in the camp, looks to those at home to supply his wants.33 And to the women the article says, To the women, this appeal is never made in vain, and we must trust they will labor unceasingly to infuse into the hearts of mean a portion, at least, of their own noble spirit and self-sacrificing devotion.34 Here we see how dependent the Confederate war effort is on the women of the home front. After all, the majority of all the men were enlisted in the army and that only left mainly women to take up the crop growing in the South. I think this was the biggest weakness of the The Spectator. November 12, 1861. p.1.c.3. Provide the Staff of Life The Spectator. November 12, 1861. p.1.c.3. Provide the Staff of Life 34 The Spectator. November 12, 1861. p.1.c.3. Provide the Staff of Life
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14 Confederacy is that it lacked the sufficient laboring population for its ability to withstand the duration of the war and its hardships. The article closes with this sentence of hope, It is hoped, however, that there are enough of the right sort who will look beyond self to country, and the present to a future that will repay every sacrifice in behalf of national honor and independence.35 A significant reason farmers are to blame for the shortages of the Confederate home front is that, by 1863, farmers were still not switching from growing mainly cash crops to growing enough food to supply the Confederacy. With the North blockading virtually every aspect of foreign trade to the South, it was solely up to the farmer to maintain the Confederate food supply. In another issue of The Spectator, an article titled The Farmers, Home Soldiers, the editor is trying to help support the argument for urging the farmers to show their patriotism. It reads, We would urge upon the farmers generally the priority of raising as much corn and oats the ensuing season as possible. Patriotism and interest combine to induce farmers to produce as much of these grains as they can. The country needs them for the support of the army, and the prices of these products will be so high that the farmers will be well paid for their labor. It is necessary to have food as to have guns and bayonets.36 It goes on to say, We hope that our farmers will do their whole duty, and will put forth extraordinary extensions to raise not only as much corn and oats as possible, but as many potatoes, and as much of all kinds of vegetables as they can. Our farmers may be denominated our home soldiers, and we hope

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The Spectator. November 12, 1861. p.1.c.3. Provide the Staff of Life The Spectator. February 24, 1863. p.1.c.2. The Farmers, Home Soldiers

15 that whilst our heroic soldiers in the army are gathering laurels, our home soldiers may be gathering an abundant harvest.37 The next article from The Spectator, The Duties of our People, describes what the Confederacy will reward good farmers that assist their cause and what they think about the farmers that are selfish and do not donate their crops. It reads, We understand that many of our farmers who devote all their produce to support the army and the families of soldiers; and their names deserve to be inscribed high upon the roll of honor, when this cruel war is over.38 As for the farmers that were more selfish in their ways the article addressed them by saying, But we regret to say that there are others, abundantly able, who will furnish the government nothing except what is worried out of them by impressment. Shame! Shame! Let everybody cry shame upon the men who are found sorbid in this hour of their countrys peril, as to refuse their government the necessary supplies, because speculators and extortioners will give them a little more.39 One can see here that farmers across the Confederacy were not on the same page. For the most part, farmers were a very stingy people. All they had ever known before was growing cash crops like cotton and taking it to the market and making a living out of doing so. Now the Confederates were too late in their attempt to overhaul their agriculture economy and trying to shift their farmers to producing food instead of what really made them money. This was a recipe for disaster and is the major internal breakdown of the Confederacy and its home front.

The Spectator. February 24, 1863. p.1.c.2. The Farmers, Home Soldiers The Spectator. October 13, 1863. p.2.c.4. The Duties of the People 39 The Spectator. October 13, 1863. p.2.c.4. The Duties of the People
37 38

16 Although some farmers appeared to be doing a great patriotic duty by giving food crops to the army, they were not always as honest and pure hearted as the public thought. In another article from The Spectator titled, Can It Be True, the editor is exploiting the farmers good image. It reads, We have been surprised to hear that some farmers who acted a conspicuous part in the meeting which adopted the patriotic resolution to sell supplies to consumers at the Government prices, refuse to sell by measurement at that price, but make a pretence so doing by offering to sell at that price, if the purchaser will agree to allow them to guess, at the amount offered for sale and pay them the Government price per bushel for the amount thus fixed by themselves.40 Can it be true that any who acted a prominent part in that meeting are now engaged in whipping the devil around the stump in this shameful manner? Have they patriotism upon their lips, and extortion in their hearts? Our country needs honest deeds, not false words.41 Here the farmers are discovered attempting to sell their goods for the wrong prices using incorrect measurements, in hopes to make a surplus profit and make them look they were doing a patriotic service for both the Confederates and the home front. Here we see that the farmer is only worried about himself and his own personal gains that he can make off of selling his goods at ridiculously inflated prices. In the very same issue of The Spectator, another short article named, Nice Patriots described something I found interesting about farmer behavior in the Confederacy. It is about farmers not wanting to fatten up their hogs for the very fear of the Confederate government taking them away. It reads, We hear of men who have plenty of hogs and corn to fatten them, fattening just enough pork to do them. The idea is
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The Spectator. October 20, 1863. p.2.c.4. Can It Be True The Spectator. October 20, 1863. p.2.c.4. Can It Be True

17 to keep the Government from getting it, and if the Yankees do not get all such patriotic hogs and their pigs, the Devil will; which amounts to the same thing, in Dutch. Just think of it! A man with Country, Liberty, Property, everything at stake, and trembling in the balances, willing to lose all rather than let the Government get a piece of his meat!42 We see here that the farmers were selfish and fearful of losing their hogs to the Confederates to feed their armies. Remember, this was written in 1863, and things are not going so well for the Confederates at this time in the war and food is running out fast. The farmers were only looking out for their own families, but little did they know the great amount of starvation that was striking the home front across the south. The very next month, farmers were now being blamed for withholding corn and the people were starting to see that the farmer was to blame for their suffering. An article titled, Withholding Corn from The Spectator supported the blame against the farmers that were committing this unrighteous act. It said, As many persons are now withholding corn [which means all kinds of grain] we would again call their attention to the following passage of Scripture: He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him, but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.43 We would recommend those who are now withholding corn, to post this upon the doors of their granaries that they may read it and reflect upon it whenever the poor are beseeching them to sell them grain at a fair price.44 Be kind and charitable to the poor, and you will experience the luxury of doing

The Spectator. October 20, 1863. p. 2.c.4. Nice Patriots The Spectator. November 24, 1863. p.2.c.3. Withholding Corn 44 The Spectator. November 24, 1863. p.2.c.3. Withholding Corn
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18 good.45 Now, farmers were being scrutinized by the people and were viewed as bad people if they did not share or sell their supplies to others in need. Farmers in the Confederacy were the biggest parasite to the Confederate war effort and are subject of the ultimate blame for the food shortages that severely affected the home front in the Civil War. Although technically the farmer was a part of the Southern home front, however, his actions were not supportive of it. The Souths ability to maintain its original way of life was quickly cut off in the early stages of the war. Growing cash crops like cotton and tobacco were the only way of life many of the farmers in the South knew and when the Confederate officials urged the farmer time and time again to slow down on producing cash crops, but the farmer knew not what to do. Farmers were urged over and over through the years of the war and still they could not stop producing cotton. After all, cash crops are what put money in their pockets, so they had zero intentions on quitting living off of what had made them successful farmers in the first place. Unfortunately, the home front suffered at the farmers gain. Farmers were not always looking out for the good of the home front either. Farmers sold goods for unregulated prices and made tons of extra money off of the starved population and the poor. Perhaps the Confederates should have been more direct in this issue, but the leaders believed overruling the farmer was going against state rights and that is what they seceded for in the first place was state rights. The farmer should not be forgotten in the story of the Confederate home front and how its people were starved for such a long and brutal United States Civil War.

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The Spectator. November 24, 1863. p.2.c.3. Withholding Corn

19 Works Cited Secondary Sources: Commager, Henry Steele. The Defeat of the Confederacy, a Documentary Survey. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1964. Print. Mobley, Joe A. Weary of War: Life on the Confederate Home Front. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008. Print. Smith, Andrew F. Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War. New York: St. Martin's, 2011. Print. Varhola, Michael O. Life in Civil War America. Cincinnati, OH: Family Tree, 2011. Print. Primary Sources: "Can It Be True." p.2.c.4. The Specator 20 Oct. 1863. Staunton, VA. Print. "The Duties of Our People." p. 2.c.4. The Specator 13 Oct. 1863. Staunton, VA. Print. "The Farmers, Home Soldiers." p.1.c.2. The Specator 24 Feb. 1863. Staunton, VA. Print. "Nice Patriots." p.2.c.4. The Specator 20 Oct. 1863. Staunton, VA. Print. "Provide the Staff of Life." The Specator 12 Nov. 1861. Staunton, VA. Print. "The Resources of the South." p.2.c.1 The Specator 1 Oct. 1861. Staunton, VA. Print. "What Shall We Wear?" p.2.c.2. The Specator 4 June 1861. Staunton, VA. Print. "Withholding Corn." p.2.c.3 The Specator 24 Nov. 1863. Staunton, VA. Print.