Tag Archives: Southern Economy

black Christmas

An editorial 150 years ago today seemed at least somewhat nostalgic for the antebellum South. From The New-York Times December 25, 1867: Christmas at the South The contrast between the Christmas of to-day and the Christmas which was known before … Continue reading

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“hermetically sealed” no more?

Thanks to Seven Score and Ten, during the Civil War Sesquicentennial I learned about DeBow’s Review, a Southern economic and commercial journal that supported slavery. It advocated secession after Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. 150 years … Continue reading

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institutional amendment

The long lead Monday morning editorial at the Dispatch discussed a well-known catchphrase during the Civil War and discussed why it was fallacious – in the South. The paper later reported that Southern church leaders warned that slave owners needed … Continue reading

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bored of war

150 years ago today Richmond’s Dispatch was full of Northern accounts of the the fall of Fort Fisher. The editors spun the resultant closing of the port of Wilmington as economically advantageous: The fall of Fort Fisher, and the subsequent … Continue reading

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justices for the poor

Apparently county judges in Virginia had the power to impose taxes. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 8, 1864: Taking care of their poor. –A levy of one per cent on all property, real and personal, (the same amount as … Continue reading

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butter price

There’s been a lot of killing and maiming and suffering the last six weeks in the various seats of war … and the price of butter is still too high at the Richmond market. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June … Continue reading

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satire is the best medicine

A New York paper says it is republishing an article from a Richmond newspaper, no date given, that comments on worsening conditions in the Confederacy. How do you house and feed three million people in the Southern capital? The writer … Continue reading

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Richmond referendum

As inflation was ravaging the Confederacy 150 years ago, the Virginia state legislature was mulling over a “maximum bill” to regulate prices on a variety of goods. The Richmond city council called a referendum so that Richmond legislators would know … Continue reading

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buried treasure

As the Confederate economy was increasingly squeezed Southerners had to make due with less and come up with creative product substitutes. 150 years ago today evidence was published of another way to find supplies – digging up the graves of … Continue reading

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“Be he miser or patriot”

Here’s an example of an individual state trying to deal with the Confederacy’s rapid increase in the money supply. The Virginia Legislature was working on a scheme that would allow the national government to slow the printing of money by … Continue reading

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