Wisconsin and the war!

[mobile_96]

I transfered this from the 'Which Side' thread as it deserves its own.

Jenna Theissen said;
""we were a very rural community, with farming and the logging industry being major to the economy, and the golden age of wheat having ended shortly before the war, Wisconsin was actually in a depression. The war halted most of the major agricultural advancements, and Wisconsin came to a stand still."

Jenna, could you elaberate more. I found the comment about agricultural advancements being halted in Wisconsin interesting.
In the rest of the northwest, not only did the women left at home on the farms run them, but actually increased food production enough to feed the family still at home, the soldiers in the field, and also to help feed Europe, especially Britian, because of famine there. All of this was due to the fact that there were more farm related patents during this time than military related patent, and the opening of new markets.
Can you give us any ideas why Wisconsin didn't or couldn't take advantage of the advancements like the rest of the country? Did this effect them the entire war or only in the beginning?
Did the logging industry also suffer a drop off, as I know the logging industry in other states took off like a rocket due to the huge demands for railroad ties, and boats for both rivers and canals, all of which were needed quickly to help move not only war supplies but also all the food products east.
Have any particular book that you could refer us to help understand what was happening in Wis. at the start, and during the war?
Chuck in Il.

[jenna]

This is one such article: http://www.wisconsinstories.org/2001...mer_essay.html

The book that I find always most helpful for me is: Every Day Life During the Civil War by Michael J. Varhola. It talks in there about the fact that the golden age of wheat had come to an end. The ground had been depleated, and although Wisconsin had great and vast land, most of the area was settled by German immigrants, who grew mostly wheat.

The dairy industry that Wisconsin is famous for did not happen until the milk pasturizor(sorry sp?) was invented after the war. The logging industry also took off more so after the war. Our population was not as large as states out on the east coast, and if you have ever been up into our Northwoods, it's hard to imagine anyone getting up there real easy in a horse and wagon.

The issues of the states well fare was in despair even before the war. So no it was not just during the war, but before it and then esculated during.

You folks in Il had John Deere to help you out with the first plows being hand forged before the war started, and then after the war those wonderful steamers and then gas powered tractors helped.

I must admitt that I am answering this from work and do not have my books at hand that I can quote or direct from, so I will answer this at a different more complete point if you don't mind? I am out of town this weekend to Boscoble, WI for a huge re-enactment/encampment and won't be back till Monday. But I promise I shall have that info for you.

Respectfully yours,
Jenna

[jenna]

Had a chance here Friday a.m. before we head on out for the weekend, and here is what the book I referred to above had in it on Wisconsin:

"Wisconsin at the time of the Civil War had a population of about 775,000, about 300,000 of whom were recent immigrants, more then 100,000 of them from Germany. Many of these immigrants balked at volunteering to fight for their new country, and Wisconsin resorted to a draft to fill its troop quotas. Wisconsin was fairly new to the Union at the beginning of the war, having become the thirtienth state on May 29,1848.......War also interrupted the state's economic growth, and Wisconsin did not change or develop much from 1860 to 1870. In the following decade, however, farming expanded northward (my comments: the majority of the population lived in the south eastern and southwester corners of the state. From what I have heard out of historians in Waukesha it was not till after the end of the war that the railroad expanded northward),helped by the replacement of oxen with horses for draft animals, and technological innovations like the reaper. A local dairy industry also began to grow in the mid-1870's."

SO that is one example. More to come as I refresh the brain this weekend out on site with my book on Wisconsin economics, where I know I read that the state was in a slight depression.

Respectfully yours,
Jenna

[jenna]

A great book on Wisconsin during the war is simply titled: Wisconsin in the Civil War by Frank L. Klement. Basically in a nut shell the book has this to say:

The majority of the population lived in the southern half of the state, from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan, and although the state in 1860 rated 2nd in the nation for wheat production, it again lost that ranking as the wheat depleted the soil. Logging was essential but most of the timber was being sent down the Mississippi with some being sent to Chicago and then being distributed to them. But again, key here is that the logging industry was primarily along the Mississippi, and once the blockade started, lumber was not easily sent south, which is where the majority of Wisconsin's lumber was bought. Prices fell to all time lows after that.

Although at the start of the war Wisconsin was 12 years old, it still resembled a frontier state. Surplus capital was scarce, debt was common place and barter was widely used. Spurious banknotes circulated freely. Manufactured goods contributed very little to the state's econmic wellfare. We had vey few manufacturing plants (sorry Harely Davidson wasn't around yet! LOL) More later if you are interested.