Conclusion

Initially, the riots were believed to have been stirred up by Northern agitators, but as more details came to light in the trials, it was soon obvious the organization done by the women like Mary Jackson. In return, the events were ultimately a political success for the women who perpetrated them. This was mainly because the public overwhelmingly agreed with the women, that as the wives and mothers of soldiers who had gone off to war, they were entitled to be cared for. In many minds, this entitlement did indeed justify the means the women had used to procure the goods. Furthermore, following the event, the Confederacy undertook a massive welfare program in order to address this need. The state of Georgia, specifically, gave out so many property tax exemptions, free supplies, and aid that the amount was almost equal to what it spent on the military in the rest of the Civil War. Furthermore, this welfare was tailored to those who had perpetrated the riots, soldier’s wives. In North Carolina, Orange County instructed its millers to distribute corn “first to soldiers’ wives at six dollars a bushel and take in payment the county order issued by the proper Committee man. … Second, They will sell corn to such other needy persons as bring orders in writing from the committeeman.”

An interesting note is that soldiers’ wives were cared for even before widows and mothers. It was remarked that “it seems to be forgot that widows have all their sons gone to war leaving their Mothers old and infirm it is worse than soldiers’ wives.” One of the reasons for this was that even before the riots, soldiers’ wives were seen as a cause of desertion. A group of soldiers from North Carolina pleaded with their governor, that they were not afraid of the Yankees, but they said, “Sir, we cannot hear the cries of our little ones and stand … Do something for them and there will be less desertion.” Nevertheless, the Bread Riots put these needy women in the forefront of the public eye and reshaped the relationship between the women and their communities and governments.

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