BREAD RIOTS AT THE

SOUTH
Harper's Weekly
APRIL 25, 1863

BREAD RIOTS AT THE SOUTH

HARPER'S WEEKLY
North Carolina Standard Course of Study Goal 4: The learner will examine the causes, course, and
character of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and their impact on North Carolina and the nation.

Objective 4.02: Describe the political and military developments of the Civil War and analyze their effect
on the outcome of the war.

Objective 4.03: Assess North Carolina's role in the Civil War and analyze the social and economic impact of
the war on the state.
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/april/bread-
riots.htm
 Analysis Guide

#2
BREAD RIOTS AT THE SOUTH- SOURCE
The Harpers Weekly primary source focuses on the Bread Riots in the
Southern Regions. We are reading this source to identify areas where riots
occurred. The Harpers Weekly focuses on regional coverage including the
five cities that participated in the violence. These cities include Atlanta first,
then Salisbury and concluded with Richmond, Raleigh and Petersburg. We
pull examples from the text to back up our findings, which include the
reasons why these women tuned to violence against their own communities.
These examples from the Bread Riots at the South, help us understand the
trials and tribulations of the Confederate Soldiers Wives.
Before Analysis Begins: Define the During Analysis: As You are
Purpose for “Reading” “Reading”

ERT Questions We will highlight specific examples and

Everybody reads to find out what cities
riots occurred in?
Everybody reads to figure out what drove
the Confederate Wives to violence?
pull from the sources to make our points
accurately. This strategy will help
decipher where these acts of anarchy
that were committed and what caused
women to commit these acts of violence?
What specific cities did this occur in? Why
did the women make these demands?
How did the author describe these
women, what adjectives does he use?
These questions are a necessitate in
understanding the historic context of the
era.
 BREAD RIOTS AT THE SOUTH
Harper's Weekly
There have already been five bread riots in the
South, all of which were instigated and
participated in principally by famishing
women, who were goaded on by the cries of
their children for food, while husbands and
fathers were in the rebel ranks. The first of
these took place on the 16th ult. at Atlanta,
Georgia, where all entreaties could not deter
the it omen from their riotous intentions until
their demands were satisfied. The next
occurred at Salisbury, North Carolina, on the
18th ult., where the rioters armed themselves,
and by force succeeded in accomplishing their
purpose. The third was in the city of
Richmond, where the operations of the mob
were not fully made public, owing to a
combined understanding among the
Richmond paper, to suppress the details. The
fourth took place at Raleigh, North Carolina;
and the fifth at Petersburg, Virginia.
As You are “Reading” you will
#2
BREAD RIOTS AT THE SOUTH- SOURCE
Highlight
ERT Questions
Everybody reads to find out what cities riots
occurred in?
Everybody reads to figure out what drove the
Confederate Wives to violence?
HOT Questions
What caused women to commit these acts of
violence?
What specific cities did this occur in? Why did the
women make these demands?
How did the author describe these women, what
adjectives does he use?
After “Reading”: Analysis with
Reference to Source
Deriving from the source, Bread Riots at
the South from the Harpers Weekly, we
find specific examples and we can draw
these directly from the newspaper article.
From the article we point out that the
women were famished and the crying of
their children weighed heavily on their
conscious and we highlighted this in
yellow. The author states that these
women were daughters and wives of the
enlisted Confederate Soldiers, and we
highlighted this in red. The article also
confirms the cities these riots occurred in
and we identify these in green.
 GOOGLE EARTH

In this geography task, we will plot the cities in which Harper's

Weekly reported these food riots. We will use Google Earth in
order to precisely identify the absolute location as well as the
relative location. We will sequence these events in Task #2 of
this module and bookmark these cities.
 Geography Assignments
Locate each city related in the Article BREAD RIOTS AT THE SOUTH.
1.Book mark each city in sequential order
2.Use the description box to describe the event that happened there.
3. Complete each box below in the graphic organizer.

ASSIGNMENT
GOOGLE EARTH- GEOGRAPHY
Atlanta, Salisbury, Richmond,
Georgia North Carolina Virginia

______________ ______________ ______________

Longitude Longitude Longitude

_______________ _______________ _______________

Latitude Latitude Latitude

Distance to marks
Raleigh, from Washington
Petersburg,
North Carolina
Virginia
Atlanta ______miles
Salisbury
______________ ______________ ______miles
Longitude Longitude Richmond
______miles
_______________ Raleigh ______miles
_______________
Latitude Petersburg
Latitude
______miles
 Orders from General Sherman
General Sherman has ordered you to strategically plan a route into the
Confederate States of America. He as specifically asked for you because of
your depth of knowledge in the southern food crisis in the south. He wants an

A FEMALE RAID- SOURCE #1

explicit description of the actions taken by the civilians in the south, this will
determine his route for a new military strategy he is contemplating. You will
be asked to submit a report providing him with the information he needs to
end the war.
 Orders from General
Sherman
Type a report to General Sherman on the southern food
crisis in the south. He is requesting the cities and the

A FEMALE RAID- SOURCE #1

location of these riots. He needs the absolute location of
these cities and the relative location in relation to the
union capital Washington.
Report to General Sherman

Type report here

 GENERAL SHERMAN- SCORCHED EARTH POLICY

In the wake of his successful campaign to capture Atlanta, Major General

William T. Sherman began making plans for a march against Savannah.
Seeking to destroy the South's economic and psychological will to resist, he
intended to conduct a campaign designed to eliminate any resources that
could be used by Confederate forces. Presenting his plan to General Grant ,
Sherman received approval and began making preparations to depart Atlanta
on November 15, 1864 using your report to plan his route.
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/p/marchtosea.htm
 THE ATLANTA TRAIN DEPOT

The Union entered Atlanta as victors on Sept. 2, 1864, and the national
flag was unfurled over the courthouse. Two days afterwards, Sherman
issued an order for the inhabitants to leave the town within five days,
that the place might be appropriated to military purposes.

ttp://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/shermans-march-to-the-sea.htm
Describe the positives and negatives of the Scorched Earth Campaign

http://www.onlinelittlerock.com/content/historic/photos/atlanta-
 Task List Understanding Historical
Task 1
Context
Copy and complete the Graphic
Answer ERT Questions in complete sentences on Organizer by listing cities these riots
a separate sheet of paper with the proper Task on slide 5.
were occurring
heading
2
Task 2 Complete the Geography
Copy the Complete the geography assignment
using
assignment graphic organizer
Google Earth. using Google Earth.

SUMMARY TASK
Complete the Graphic organizer
Task 3 Summary Instructions
Type a brief outline on the rationale for General
Sherman in response to his orders.
Targeting Your Tasks for a Bull's- Task 3
eye! Using your Understanding Historical
Context graphic organizer write a
summary consisting of 4-5 paragraphs
examining the significance of the food
riots in the south. It should also show
evidence in establishing the location of
events and how these subsequent
events hypothesize the cause-effect
relationships between the Sherman's
plan and the food shortage.
You should identify clue words and
Grading Scale
100-90= A
phrases that back up your research, in
89-80= B search of the historical truth. You should
79-75= C
74-65= D conceptualize the environment  in
64 below= F relation to the food shortage.
Edit your summary and post your
publication on the class wiki. Turn in
written Tasks 1, 2 and 3 to the correct
 References
Female Raid. (1863, March 23). A female raid. the Carolina Watchman

vary, M.L. (1997). A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, 1861-1865:. Documenting the
American South, First Edition, Retrieved July 5,2009, from
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/avary/avary.html

REFERENCES
ttp://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/shermans-march-to-the-sea.htm

ttp://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/p/marchtosea.htm

ay, N.W. (1865, April 9). North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial. Retrieved July
27, 2009, from North Carolina Voices Web site:
http://www.nccivilwar150.com/history/ncvoices/confederate-voices.htm

eid L., Neal M., Aycock C., Thomson, Elbeth, Shearin S. (1863, February, 17).
Governors Papers. Making Ends Meet , Retrieved July 16, 2009, from
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/workshops/womenshistory/making.ends.htm