1. The Northern Homefront, 1861-1865
Questions:
Did northerners experience hardship and pain the homefront ? How would their experience compare with the south ?
How did the Union pay for the Civil War ?
How did the male population in the Union react to the draft laws ?
Did the North experience civil unrest during the war ?
What progress did women and blacks make during the Civil War ?

2. Executive Power
The Civil War justified greatly expanded executive power and Lincoln was quite willing to exercise his prerogatives:
Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus
(“you have the body”) law officers have to file charges a detainee - this was suspended during the Civil War
The Union denied habeas corpus to over 14,000 people during the war
Ex Parte Merryman [1861] and Ex Parte Mulligan [1866] - both cases judged government actions as illegal.
Extensive use of executive orders
binding proclamations that bypass Congressional debate and allow for speedy action.
Wartime presidents often employ executive orders

3. Draft laws/Conscription
Conscription Act (March 3, 1863): [1] made all men years liable for military duty [2] inductees could furnish a substitute or pay $300
This caused the New York City draft riots - July 13-16, What caused this riot ? Were the rioter somewhat justified ?
The draft raised 46,347 conscripts and 200,921 substitutes
National Days of fasting
Lincoln proclaimed three fast days for prayer in the Union
The Civil War was also a moral crusade in the eyes of many northerners.

4. The Economics of War Federal Budgets National Banking Act
The 1860 federal budget was $63 million
The 1865 federal budget was $1.89 billion
Gold was discovered in the West during the war which supplemented the treasury
National Banking Act
Banks were invited to deposit their gold and silver in a federal depository. In exchange for this deposit the banks were given government bonds and chartered as national banks

5. Taxation and Currency Inflation Income Tax Direct Tax “greenbacks”
3% on incomes over $800 and went up on a sliding scale to 10%
Direct Tax
tariffs and excise taxes
“greenbacks”
one-eighth of Union money circulating during the war were “greenbacks” that was not any different than Confederate paper currency.
The value of the “greenback” was relatively stable - at the end of the war the greenback could be redeemed for .66 cents gold/ silver
Inflation
1859: $ base year
1861: $1.14
1864: $1.78

6. The War on Balance
The following represents Union spending during the war:
$867 million -- taxes
$2 billion -- loans
six-sevenths of the cost of the war was paid with real money