Labor unions, in decline since the depression of 1857, sprung back to life, especially in the war’s later years. Protests and strikes began in 1861 and increased in number and intensity from 1863 to the war’s conclusion. They often resisted changes pressed on them in the workplace-new technology, military discipline, unskilled newcomers-as well as wages that always lagged behind rising prices.
Yet workers were not always satisfied with a job and appeals to back the boys in blue and gray without question. The growing demand for war material opened employment opportunities for women and men, girls and boys, across the Union and Confederacy. Though many workers initially voiced skepticism of plans for sundering the nation, once Southern states seceded most workers rallied round their rival flags and pledged to support their respective war efforts. From the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861 until the Confederacy surrendered in the spring of 1865, workers-North and South-labored long hours under often trying conditions at wages that rarely kept pace with wartime inflation.
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