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The
Civil War and Ohio
The people of Ohio
held mixed feelings about the war, showing both
support and opposition. Upon hearing news of the
war, 30,000 Ohioans volunteered for the Union Army,
including a number of ethnic minorities comprising
Irish, Germans, French and Poles. There was also
a lot of opposition from democrats who were against
the war. This group of democrats was labeled Peace
Democrats or Copperheads. Ohio had more Copperhead
activity than any other state. The most notorious
being Clement L. Vallandigham from Columbiana County.
He generated a following because of his stance on
the war; He believed that the South had the right
to secede and believed they could not be defeated.
The Copperheads also believed that slavery was a
protected constitutional right, which gave credibility
to the South's secession. Despite broad Copperhead
support, many soldiers who fought in the war came
from Ohio, and a small invasion took place on Ohio
soil.
In 1863, Colonel John
Hunt Morgan, a Confederate Cavalry leader from Kentucky
led 2,400 men into Indiana pillaging through the
countryside. Ohioans feared they would be next prompting
General Burnside to declare martial law in Cincinnati.
On July 12th Morgan crossed the border, terrifying
civilians. On July 18th a skirmish took place between
the Ohio militia and Morgan and his raiders. Over
seven hundred of Morgan's men were captured while
Morgan fled later being captured in Salineville,
Columbiana County.
Many Ohioans took
part in the conflict militarily and politically.
According to statistics 34,591 Ohioans died in the
war, 11,237 in battle and 23,354 from disease. Several
military leaders also hailed from Ohio; Ulysses
S. Grant from Point Pleasant, as well as Major General
Philip Sheridan and Major General James B. McPhereson.
Post-Civil War Industry and Big
Business
Farming had always
been Ohio's leading industry. In 1860 eighty-three
percent of Ohioans lived in rural areas. However,
only twenty years later Ohio would begin to lose
its agricultural position due to the rapidly developing
prairie states. By the end of the 19th century manufacturing
was threatening to displace agriculture as Ohio's
biggest industry.
Ohio enjoyed a special
vantage point when it came to industrial growth
not only because of it's vast natural resources,
but because of geography. Ohio served as a bridge
between the industrial centers of the east and the
rapidly expanding west, with goods, people and intellectual
currents passing through Ohio on their journey westward.
Cincinnati was at one time the historic center of
Ohio industry, but as the industrial age advanced
Cleveland began catching up. Cleveland, being closer
to the growing western market than the industrial
centers of the east, proved advantageous as it cut
down on transportation costs. Other parts of Ohio
grew industrially as well. Dr. B.F. Goodrich strategically
set up his rubber factory in Akron, Ohio to give
him the advantage over manufacturers farther east.
This setup worked beyond his expectations when he
found his factory in the center of the automotive
industry, Detroit just 180 miles away. Ohio's location
also proved to be a blessing in the oil refining
business because oil would be shipped through to
Pennsylvania, giving Ohio a chance to get in on
the shipping action.
Ohio possessed many
natural resources that helped to fuel their industrial
growth. Salt was present in the northwestern part
of the state. Clay was abundant in the areas of
East Liverpool, Roseville, and Crooksville. Clay
was used to build the Chinaware, Stoneware and brick
manufacturing industries. The clay industries saw
a boom when cities began installing sewage systems
using pipes made of tile. Oil was discovered in
Lima and Findlay, making Toledo an important refining
and shipping center in the 1890s. Natural gas and
coal were also native to Ohio, helping to create
a large energy industry.
With growing industries
came a demand for cheap labor. This demand was met
in two ways, from men leaving rural areas for new
opportunities in the cities and by immigrants. The
demand for labor drew a new stream of immigrants,
and Cleveland became the most ethnic city in Ohio.
Most of the new immigrants were of central, eastern
and southern European decent; Italians, Hungarians,
Poles, Czechs, Jews, Slovenes, Greeks and Austrians.
A black population began to grow in Cleveland as
well, with many working as unskilled laborers but
there was also a substantial black middle class.
Cincinnati's ethnic mix was different than Cleveland's.
German and Irish dominated the flow of immigrants
around the turn of the century, adding to the already
disproportionate presence of those ethnicities already
in the city.
Ohio and WWI
Ohio's industry aided
the war effort immensely and was the leading producer
of basic metals, heavy machinery, automotive and
truck assemblies, electrical equipment, rubber,
and road construction equipment. The war created
a huge wartime expansion, especially in Akron where
144,000 new residents moved between 1910 and 1920.
Ohio was susceptible
to anti-German sentiment because of the large German
immigrant population. Some towns renamed streets
that had German names and newspapers and citizens
treated Germans with disdain. Some colleges stopped
teaching German language and literature, and no
German language was to be taught in schools below
the eighth grade level.
Ohio also participated
in the war militarily with Ohio men being represented
in several units, and dominating the 37th Division.
Ohio provided some volunteers, and the draft provided
more. The draft took effect in May of 1917 with
154,236 Ohioans being drafted. Many of the Ohio
draftees served in the 83rd Division.
The Great Depression Strikes Ohio
Ohio was particularly
prone to heavy unemployment due to it's role as
a leading industrial state. In 1930, 13.3 percent
of Ohioans were unemployed, and by 1932, 37.3 percent
were unemployed. The industrial cities were hit
particularly hard. Cleveland experienced fifty percent
industrial unemployment, Akron experienced sixty
percent industrial unemployment and at one point
Toledo suffered eighty percent industrial unemployment.
The industrial centers were not the only places
hit hard by the Depression, agriculture and the
school systems also suffered greatly. The New Deal
helped some in Ohio, but it was the industrial boom
of World War Two that brought the state and the
country out of the Great Depression.
Ohio and WWII
The demand for war
goods, including food and manufactured products
swept Ohio out of the Great Depression and raised
farm income 191 percent. A shortage of farm labor
developed because of the combination of farmers
joining the army or moving to the cities. Migrant
workers, mainly Mexicans and western Native Americans
eased the shortage, as well as more than 8,000 German
and Italian prisoners of war. The aircraft and automotive
industries saw a boom in Ohio as well.
Ohio joined the war
effort militarily as well as industrially. Roughly
twelve percent of Ohio's population, an estimated
839,000 men and women served the country in some
military capacity, and 23,000 were killed. Some
of these men include the 37th Division, commanded
by Major General Robert Beightler, Company C of
the 192nd Tank Battalion, the 112th Engineer Combat
Regiment, and the 174th Field Artillery Battalion.
Between industry, agriculture and military, Ohio
served the country well during the Second World
War.
Ohio and the Korean Conflict
Only a few years after
the end of WWII the United States entered another
war, this time against Korea. Ohio offered up many
troops and suffered many casualties, with 1,777
dead and 4,837 having been wounded. Ohio also participated
in the rampant anti-communism movement during the
1950s, better known as the Red Scare. The state
created an Ohio Un-American Activities Commission
who claimed that there were 1,300 Communists living
in Ohio in 1952. |
