Daily Life In Northeast Arkansas During The Civil War - Research Paper Example

? DAILY LIFE IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS DURING THE CIVIL WAR Civil war in Arkansas s back in the 1861 through 1865. The civil war resulted from the secession from the union by a divided group of Arkansas. Arkansas was a frontier state inhabited by many slaves, located in a fertile land, with widely varied landscape and river Mississippi cutting across it. Therefore, following the secession, the Arkansas people located in the north began to fight for Arkansas State with Arkansas people located in the South. The economic activity of Arkansas State was agriculture because geographical characteristics which made it easy to engage in subsistence farming on small parcels of land and cash-crop farming on large plantations1. Cotton was the main cash crop and due to its price increase, the State of Arkansas spurred and prospered in the 1850’s. However, some regions that had many slaves such as southern and eastern regions benefited more from the economic spurs brought about by cotton than those in regions with few slaves. Consequently, this created and increased the social, economic and political dissonance between Arkansas people living in the highlands and those located in the lowlands. Political dominance of the Democratic Party was the more rooted to this dissonance with some political figures advocating for the rights of the southern Arkansas while majority of the Arkansas were against slavery and remained loyal to the union. In addition, a larger number of Arkansas supported the secession but only a few were totally against it. Therefore, despite intense pressure from secessionist element, including the state officials and representatives from the seceded stated, some delegates barred every attempt to validate a secession ordinance. The season of deciding whether to secede or not, characterized heated debate, fallouts and fights that led to destruction of property and people. In so far as, the war is concerned, it always brings with it a lot of suffering, sorrow and requires greats sacrifice. The first year of the Northeast Arkansas civil war, 1861, was quiet since the dissonance was rather vague and occurred underground. In addition, war preparation and assembling of troops for inspection and provision of orders occupied the first year of the northeast Arkansas civil war. The Arkansas people went about their daily business as usual without any fear. During the first year, there was a lot of indifference since some people were in support of the war and looked forward to it with a lot of enthusiasm while others were totally against the war. The first union forces to invade the northeast Arkansas came from Missouri. However, in the second year, 1862, the situation dramatically changes as union naval forces broke through Confederate defences along the Mississippi River and captured the city of Memphis, while Federal forces started to inhabit the northeast region and eastern lowlands of the Arkansas State. The war had reached northeast Arkansas much faster than anyone had anticipated. During the period of the war, Arkansas women and children were toiling in the proverbial trenches on the home front. As the Confederate and Federal armies were concentrating their forces east of the Mississippi River, war was just as real in Arkansas as it was in Tennessee and Virginia. Since, the civil war in northeast Arkansas had just began, the Arkansas people appeared to be less defensive. This defenceless situation made the Arkansas State weak and naive among its enemies2. The defenceless situation of the State of Arkansas was primarily because of lack of an army to protect its citizens. As such, the lack of a security system or body had greater impact on innocent women and children. Moreover, as the men set out for war, the women and children back at home faced many challenges such as lack of food and many other kind dangers. Food was the most crucial problem characterizing the years of war, as farmers could no longer continue with their farming resourcefully. As such, the defenceless nature of Arkansas created quite unfavourable situation for all the citizens of Arkansas. In addition, this defenceless nature of the Arkansas made it easy way for the Curtis to move south towards Little Rock. The path that the Union army followed contained ravaged fields, vandalized and burned buildings slaughtered livestock, pillaged smokehouses and root cellars,. In addition to this, things became worse when some individual contaminated the wells and destroyed bridges in an attempt to put a hold to the advances of the union army. Similarly, destruction of a number of flourmills and gristmills occurred, while forces that had managed to occupy some part of Arkansas State took over the remaining flourmills and gristmills.3 As the situation of lack of food worsened, it became harder for the people of northeast Arkansas to secure flour or any other kind of a meal. Most critically, due to lack of food, the Confederated army in the battle would sometimes starve making them weak for the war. Nonetheless, not all war torn areas lacked adequate food supply. Areas where the Federals had not occupied, food supply was just enough to last the people in such areas for a whole year. In some places, the Union army gave food. However, in critical and fatal conditions of starvation, people in hunger stricken areas had to take refuge in other areas such as south of Arkansas, Missouri, Curtis and Texas. Soldiers received furloughs, which meant forced unpaid leaves so as they could help with the farming. Although, the furloughs allowed the soldiers to retain the jobs, they did not receive salaries during the leave period and could not participate in the war meaning the winning the battle was as well unrealistic. However, as the soldiers could help in farming this meant that production increased and therefore, a solution came up for the problem of starvation among the people of Arkansas. 4 In addition, to food shortages, destruction of houses forced many people to abandon their homesteads and flee therefore becoming homeless while others sort refuge in neighbouring states. This led to creation of refugee camps while those left with no homes made the streets their homes. With no homes and a source of living, the homeless and the refuges relied and lived under the mercy of well-wishers such as the Union army. The northeast counties of the Arkansas state suffered drastically because of the war. Moreover, destruction of rail fences resulted into transport and communication breakdown. This heightened the food problem, as there was no transportation means to deliver food to hunger stricken areas. In addition, supplying food to the homeless and refugees became more difficult. The aftermath of property destruction was death of innocent people especially women and children and waste of fertile land.5 On the other hand, the civil war in northeast Arkansas had major impact on the economic well being of the communities living in the north and south regions of Arkansas. Before the war, the north and south regions of Arkansas had large but separate economies. However, as the war was just about to begin there were some economic connections and interactivity between the north and the south. For instance, supplies for raw materials such as cotton used in the textile mills of the north region came from the south region, while Arkansas in the south region imported some manufactured products from the north. However, after the war began and during its underway, the economic connections between the north and the south regions of Arkansas broke off making a drastic downfall on the entire economy of the Arkansas State. Although the two economics were independent of one, each felt the effects of the war of the other economy. The break off between the economic connections of the north and south region brought about a standstill on the industrialization of the entire economy of the Arkansas State. Before the war, industrialization had dramatically changed the life of the people of Arkansas as well as the whole world. Industrialization had created new job opportunities, new and advanced products became available to the people of Arkansas and civilization of the Arkansas State took place. The industrialization period characterized an increase in industrial production as well as efficiency. Due to efficient production, the price for the new and improved products was low making it possible for the marginalized and the less fortunate group of people in Arkansas to acquire them. In 1861 and 1862, the Confederate forces carried out mining of saltpetre, used in making gunpowder in the caves near the upper White River. However, the Federal forces, been unsupportive of the mining operations by the Confederate forces, sent expeditions to destroy mines.6 In 1863, this destruction resulted in a complete closure of the mining operations. Meanwhile, while the havoc in the mining sector was still underway, supplies from cloth mills in some areas such as Van Buren and Cane Hill began to decrease to cater for the needs of cotton and woollen cloth. Consequently, with a cut-off in outside supplies, 7northeast Arkansas had to devise means of making cloths. As a result, northeast Arkansas came up with the idea of home cloth making. However, home cloth making was not very successful as there was lack of enough cloth making tools such as wards used to arrange cotton and wool fibres prior to spinning them into thread. Nevertheless, home cloth making continued even with the few drawbacks here and there since the war would not allow the people of Arkansas to move from one place to another freely as they did before in search of the appropriate or inadequate tools of work. In addition to home cloth making, local shoemakers could make shoes when there was availability of the necessary materials such as leather. In particular, Camden and Fulton had many shoe making shops. The two skills, cloth making and shoe making became reliable sources of living for the northeast Arkansas people. With restrictions in movement, the Arkansas people found it a worthwhile and very cheap business since it did not require them to travel from one place to another resulting into minimal costs. Another natural product that featured in the daily life of the northeast Arkansas during the civil war was salt. The major sources of salt were beneath smokehouse and salt works. The people of northeast Arkansas would dig salt from beneath the smokehouse and from production in salt works. In addition to this, wells contained salt water that the people boiled until it evaporates leaving some salt in the kettles. The people of northeast Arkansas used the salt in food to add taste to it as well as in preservation of perishable foods such as meat. Foodstuff and other commodities such as salt became available for trade purposes. Although these commodities were cheap before the war since their supply was high, as the war continued, they became very expensive since there was a shortage in their supplies. In addition, there was a decline in the value of the Confederate paper currency which made majority of the people lose confidence in its worth.8 Daily life in northeast Arkansas during the civil war became unbearable more so because of the loss of value of the Confederate paper currency since inflation rates hit up. In any state, nation or country, the level of sustainability that citizens can achieve makes their lives bearable or unbearable. In periods of increased food prices due to a rise in inflation rates triggered by loss of value in state’s currency, life becomes unbearable. However, when citizens have access to cheap and readily available food, life becomes bearable even in periods of political turmoil. In the case of northeast Arkansas, life during the war had become quite unbearable as the prices of foodstuff and other daily necessities rose. This created a hard and unbearable situation for the people of northeast Arkansas, as they had to fight two battles: the battle of starvation and the political battle. 9 Armies from the two forces, the Confederate and the Federal destroyed the State of Arkansas a great deal, while armed men infesting the State made the Arkansas experience great suffering that went untold. At the same time, guerrillas, jayhawkers and bushwhackers attacked majority of the Ozark communities for most part of the war. Guerrillas comprised of large group of fighters who undertook their operations in a very organized manner. However, the major limitation of the guerrillas was the fact that they appeared torn apart between fighting for either the United States or the Confederacy. Nevertheless, the guerrillas’ attacks and ambushes came out to be very effective in winning the battle because the guerrillas would appear to the enemy unprepared for a fight.10 On the other hand, the jayhawkers and bushwhackers comprised of a small group of men, normally two, and three or in other few cases a dozen. Unlike the guerrillas, the jayhawkers and bushwhackers did not belong to any particular party and only attacked and fought back when a chance presented itself to them. The Confederates referred to the pro-union irregulars as jayhawkers, while Union troops referred to pro-southern irregulars as bushwhackers. The group of men forming the guerrillas, jayhawkers and bushwhackers comprised of merciless outlaw bands. This is because the war that these outlaw bands engaged in was full of evil activities such as arson, murder, arson, pillage and rape. These activities were quite anti-social and proved that some people had taken advantage of the war to make innocent people such as women and children suffer. In addition, some irregulars would attack individuals who displayed slightest sign of sympathy for the other party of war, while other irregulars attacked and raided any area with signs of looting. The two-sided face of the irregulars was quite unacceptable and unlikely among members claiming to be carrying out their operations as a group. Moreover, the irregulars appeared to be opportunistic when they raided wherever loot was available. The guerrillas, jayhawkers and bushwhackers made the situation worse and unbearable for the regular army troops. It was hard to know which group the guerrillas, jayhawkers or the bushwhackers backed. The war became very heated, irrational and at one point in time, the war lost its meaning. The regular army troops from the Confederate and the Federal had to deal with the situation at hand accordingly. Therefore, the Confederate and the Federal army troops hunted down and killed the outlaw bandits. As suffering and injuries because of the war increased, illnesses became everyday problem for the people of northeast Arkansas. Illnesses struck both the soldiers and the army in the war and the women and children back at home. The sick and the wounded had to be cared for and that was the daily life in northeast Arkansas. There were no hospitals and ordinary medicines and people had to seek their equivalent substitutes. However, there was little supply of ordinary medicines such as quinine and castor and therefore the condition required people to seek substitutes. The situation worsened because the only doctor in northeast Arkansas went to attend the soldiers in the army.11 Major and common diseases experienced in the camps included measles, fever and those caused through consumption of contaminated water. For example, in 1862 about 1500 men died at a camp owned by the Confederate after taking contaminated water. At this particular time, when illnesses and the death numbers increased, the army turned out churches, schools and in demanding situation private homes into hospitals. Furthermore, when people free the houses and the buildings partially destroyed were set up as temporary hospitals. Women and young adult girls left the villages in organized hospital associations to assist the soldiers in the army. In relation to the sickness problem, the northeast Arkansas had few surgeons but also incompetent ones a situation the made the suffering of the wounded more severe. As cases of sickness and problems related to hospitalization increased, resources, tools and hospital utilities became scarce making even harder to cater for the sick. As such, the union sort help and made appeals for supplies of all kind from outside sources such as form Little Rock.12 However, as the way of life of the people of northeast Arkansas and things around them changed, their social life seldom changed. The social life in northeast Arkansas contained dances, parties and picnic. During the war, people of northeast Arkansas continued with their social affairs as if nothing dramatic was taking place. In particular, social life in the army flourished and the soldiers engaged and enjoyed many social activities. For example, in 1861, young adult girls from the villages continued to visit the army where they would enjoy music and dance to the tunes. The band from the Union army would entertain people during very eventful concerts. Picnics, fishing parties held on River Mississippi and playing military ball never ceased to be the daily social activities of the people in the northeast Arkansas. In addition, the Union army participated in different competitive games such athletics. Tournaments were organized and held by the Cavalry units where groups of soldiers would engage in. However, all the social activities and merry making was in the cities but not in the village and army camps where sickness, fear and suffering occupied the most part of the daily life of the northeast Arkansas during the civil war.13 During the first years of the war, institutions such as schools and churches continued with their activities as usual without been interacted. However, as the years moved on and the war became intense, some churches leaders and ministers as well as those heading the schools had to abandon their tools and join the army. In a broader context, some churches chose to become supporters of a particular army, an idea that was quite unwelcoming to the mother church. Therefore, when the churches decided to join the army, the mother church deprived of their ministries and their church activities put at stake. In some regions, within the second year, only one church remained as having a minister and conducting its regular activities as usual, a situation that detrimental to the Christians believers. On the other hand, as the war commenced, some schools closed while others suspended their learning activities. This is because students could no longer have a conducive and peaceful environment favourable for learning. In addition, majority of the students and even the teachers had started to experience the impact of the war. Some had become victims of sicknesses, injuries, and family separations, emotional and mental sufferings. The closure of schools heightened due to communication and transportation problems created by the war. This is because passengers had to take several trips before getting to their destinations as there break-offs during the journey in order to connect to the next region. The roads were unbearable in either the rainy season or the dry season and only few bridges were available. Mail service was slow and newspapers were hardly enough due to paper shortage.14 In conclusion, the daily life in northeast Arkansas during the civil war was full of sufferings and hardships unbelievable in the eyes of man. These sufferings were of every kind and ranged from personal to communal problems. The major problem was lack of food since farmers could no longer continue with their farming activities as usual. Some people starved to death, while succumb to death from illnesses and injuries sustained during the war. Church activities and learning in school came to a standstill as the ministers and other leaders went away to join the army. Communication breakdown in daily life in northeast Arkansas became a common problem as supplies for raw materials decreased. Transportation became a big problem, as there were no proper means of transportation and those available feared attacks from the irregulars. Bibliography Blake, Wintory J. “The Little Rock Conference of the Arkansas Historical Association.” Arkansas Historical Autumn, 70, no. 3 (2011): 316-319. Accessed April 4, 2012. http://www.ebscohost.com Constitution of the United States of America (ca. 1860). Accessed April 4, 2012. http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/usconstitution.html E. [D.?] Wilson Civil War Diary, 1863. University of Arkansas Libraries special collections. Accessed April 4, 2012. http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/wilsondiary.asp Eubank, JNO. The declaration of causes of seceding states. Accessed April 4, 2012. http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/declarationofcauses.html Gore, John. Settler life in Arkansas in the late nineteenth century seen through the WPA early settler interviews. Cambridge: ProQuest, 2008. Hanley, Diane. Jonesboro and Arkansas historic northeast corner. New Hampshire: Arcadia Publishing, 2002. Lause, Mark. “The die is cast: Arkansas goes to war, 1861. Arkansas Historical Autumn,69, no. 3 (2010): 275-277. Accessed April 4, 2012. http://www.ebscohost.com McManamon, Francis P., Cordell, Linda S., Lightfoot, Kent G, and Milner, George R. Archaeology in America: Northeast and Southeast. California: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Razer, Bob. “Arkansas history, 2010: a selected bibliography.” Arkansas Historical Autumn, 70, no. 4 (2011): 450-461. Accessed April 5, 2012. http://www.ebscohost.com Read More