Impacts of Canned Food During the American Civil War
Faculty Sponsor
Lucas Kelley
College
Arts and Sciences
Discipline(s)
History
ORCID Identifier(s)
0000-0001-5223-0690
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-25-2024
Abstract
The Civil War was the first time that we saw canned food being used on a large scale. Canned food was used to preserve the soldiers’ food and cut off problems of starvation that were faced in the American Revolutionary War. The process of canning food involved first hermetically sealing the food and then applying heat to kill off any microorganisms. The seal prevented anything from entering and contaminating the food. While soldiers had access to food during the Civil War so that they would not die from starvation, it did not solve another problem. The soldiers were able to meet their caloric intake that they needed to march and fight, but they were dealing with vitamin deficiencies of Vitamin B and Vitamin C. Vitamin C deficiencies caused the soldiers to deal with diarrhea or scurvy. Vitamin B deficiencies can cause anemia, beriberi, and pellagra. Of the deaths during the Civil War, around sixty percent died from disease. Pneumonia, Malaria, diarrhea, and typhoid fever were among the major causes. Soldiers were not dying from starvation, but canned food may have also played a role in the death of many soldiers.
Recommended Citation
Hill, Sarah, "Impacts of Canned Food During the American Civil War" (2024). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1239.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1239
