“War economy”

A war economy is the economic system and production structure supporting military conflict.

It includes:

• food production,
• weapons,
• clothing,
• transportation,
• construction,
• labor,
• taxation,
• supplies,
• logistics.

For the Confederacy, enslaved labor was important to agricultural production, particularly cotton and food production, while enslaved people were also extensively used in military-support work.

Therefore, disrupting the system of enslaved labor could affect the war economy, even if the Confederate government rejected the legal basis of emancipation.