After the outbreak of war, business was soon almost at a standstill. The government monopolized all means of transportation for military purposes. There were few good railroads in the state and few good wagon roads. In one section there would be plenty, while seventy-five or a hundred miles away there would be great suffering from want. Depreciated currency and the impressment laws made the producer wary of going to market at all. He preferred to keep what he had and live upon it, effecting changes in the old way of barter. Cows, hogs, chickens, mules, farm implements, cotton, corn, peas—all were exchanged and reëxchanged for one another. The farmer tended more and more to become independent of the merchant and of money. Consequently the townspeople suffered. Confederate money, at first received at par, soon began to depreciate, though the most patriotic people considered it their duty to accept it at its par value.[464]
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| Alabama Money. | ||
 |  | |
| Confederate Postage Stamps. | Private Money. Printed in large sheets on one side only and never used. The other side is a state bill similar to the one above. Paper was scarce, and the state money was printed so that when cut apart the private money was destroyed. | |
At the end of 1861, Confederate money was worth as much[465] as Federal, but it had depreciated. Often private credit was better than public, and individuals in need of a more stable circulating medium issued notes or promises to pay which in the immediate neighborhood passed current at their face value. Great quantities of this “card money” or shinplasters were issued, and in some communities it almost supplanted the legal money as a more reliable medium of exchange. The Alabama legislature passed severe laws against the practice of issuing “card money,” but with little effect.
The effect of depreciation of paper money was the same as a tax so far as the people were concerned. Forced into circulation, it supported the government, but it gradually depreciated and each holder lost a little. Finally, when almost worthless, it was practically repudiated by the state and by the Confederacy, and funding laws were passed, providing for the redemption of old notes at a low rate in new issues. Depreciation of the currency caused extravagance and other more evil results. A person who handled much money felt that he must at once get rid of all that came into his possession in order to avoid loss by depreciation. Consequently there was speculation, reckless spending, and extravagance. Money would be spent for anything offered for sale. If useful things were not to be had, then luxuries would be bought, such as silks, fancy articles, liquors, etc., from blockade-runners. This was especially the case in Selma, Mobile, and Montgomery, and in northern Alabama. Persons formerly of good character frequently drifted into extravagant and dissipated habits, because they tried to spend their money and there were not enough legitimate ways in which to do so.
Depreciation, speculation, and scarcity caused prices to rise, especially the prices of the necessaries of life. These varied in the different sections of the state. In Mobile, in 1862, prices were as follows:—
| Shoes, per pair | $25.00 | |||
| Boots, per pair | 40.00 | |||
| Overcoats, each | 25.00 | |||
| Hats, each | 15.00 | |||
| Flour, per barrel | $40.00 to | 60.00 | ||
| Corn, per bushel | 3.25 | |||
| Butter, per pound | 1.75 | |||
| Bacon, per pound | 10.00 | |||
| Soap, per pound (cheap) | 1.00 | |||
| Candles, per pound | 2.50 | |||
| Sugar, per pound | $0.50 to | .75 | ||
| Coffee, per pound | 1.75 to | 3.25 | ||
| Tea, per pound | 10.00 to | 20.00 | ||
| Cotton and wool cards, per pair | 2.00 | |||
| Board per week at the Battle House, in 1862 | $3.50; in 1863, | 8.00 | [466] | |
In May, 1862, at Huntsville, then in the hands of the Federals, some prices were, in Federal currency:—
| Green tea (poor quality), per pound | $4.00 | ||
| Common rough trousers, per pair | 13.00 | ||
| Boots, per pair | 25.00 | ||
| Shoes, per pair | $5.00 to 12.00 | [467] |
In 1863, in south Alabama, in Confederate currency:—
| Meat, per pound | $4.00 | |||
| Lard, per pound | 6.00 | |||
| Salt, per sack at the works | $80.00 to | 95.00 | ||
| Wheat, per bushel | 10.00 | |||
| Corn, per bushel | 3.00 | |||
| A cow (worth $15 in 1860) | 127.00 | [468] | ||