Salt lists
Encyclopedia
During the American Civil War
, the Union blockade
interrupted the normal sources of salt for the Confederate states. Georgia, Alabama and other southern states began a rationing
process to ensure fair distribution. Many of the states handed rationing responsibility to the county courts, which created salt lists of eligible families and the amounts of salt (calculated in 1/2 bushels) that they could receive.
The rationing programs did not provide the salt for free, except for widows of soldiers. Other families were required to pay, although families of serving soldiers and widowed mothers of soldiers were given special consideration.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Union blockade
Union blockade
The Union Blockade, or the Blockade of the South, took place between 1861 and 1865, during the American Civil War, when the Union Navy maintained a strenuous effort on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the Confederate States of America designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms...
interrupted the normal sources of salt for the Confederate states. Georgia, Alabama and other southern states began a rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
process to ensure fair distribution. Many of the states handed rationing responsibility to the county courts, which created salt lists of eligible families and the amounts of salt (calculated in 1/2 bushels) that they could receive.
The rationing programs did not provide the salt for free, except for widows of soldiers. Other families were required to pay, although families of serving soldiers and widowed mothers of soldiers were given special consideration.