How did the war affect women? African American? Native people?

Question:

How did the war affect women? African American? Native people?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: During the American Civil War, houses were stripped of draperies and carpets to provide clothing and shelter for North Carolina's troops. Even donated church bells were melted down and recast as cannon. Parched corn was substituted for coffee, and spinning wheels once more competed with power looms. Yet opportunistic merchants and unscrupulous blockade runners continued to sell their goods at the highest prices the market would bear. Bacon soared from $.33 to $7.50 per pound, wheat went from $3 to $50 a bushel, and coffee was selling at $100 per pound. While at least 125,000 Tar Heels served in service of the Confederate States of America, almost eight times that number remained at home. Confronted with scarcities, exorbitant prices, and depreciating currency, farm wives and plantation mistresses, old men and small children, free blacks and domestic servants strove to make ends meet.

"Well, I was born 87 years ago, June 22, 1852. My father was shot in the arm while in action during the first year of the Confederate War. He was sent home later because of illness and finally died with typhoid fever. He left ma with six chilluns, three boys and three girls. I was the oldest and I had to help ma raise the chilluns, but we worked hard, everybody had to work hard then." Mrs. W.W. Mize, 198 Elbert Street, Athens, Georgia, on October 3, 1939