Illinois passed through the Civil War basically unscathed. It is true that some 260,000 Illinoisans joined the Union Army between 1861 and 1865; it is true that nearly 35,000 of them never returned to their homes. But the devastating battles of America's bloodiest war were fought in the eastern theater and in the south. While Illinois supplied the manpower, the machinery, and the finances for the war effort, the actual war never touched Illinois soil. It is true that Confederate sympathizers in southern Illinois began a movement to establish a new government in the south, with the ultimate goal of forming a new state, as was accomplished in the case of Virginia and West Virginia; but the movement was squelched and degenerated into vigilantism, feuding, and guerrilla warfare on the local level. It is true that the war imposed financial hardships and unprecedented manufacturing demands on Illinois residents, but the financiers and industrialists of the state turned the war to their advantage and began building financial, manufacturing, and shipping enterprises to rival all others previously in existance.

For the first time, Illinoisans were beginning to think in terms of other than an agragarian economy, and the result was economic and social upheaval which lasted through the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s. The farmers were exploited by speculators, bankers, railroads, and government. They were ignored by their own legislators. Many, particularly the young, moved to the city. Others suffered in silence. A few bold, farsighted men saw the advantage of group action and began organizing; sometimes on the local level, sometimes on a larger scale, but always to the improvement of their lot.

Meanwhile, the cities were struggling with the problems of industrialization. An overabundance of unskilled labor flooding into the cities, particularly Chicago, following the Civil War, added severe poverty and a high unemployment rate to an already unstable economy. The results were economic panic followed by depression, giving rise to reactionary activities including unionization, strikes, anarchy, riots, and general unrest. The Haymarket Riot in 1886 and the Pulman Strike of 1894 drew nationwide attention to Illinois' economic and social ills, but they seemed to exemplify the mood of the nation rather than stand as isolated incidents of unrest.

Chicago's phenomenal growth during this period has been unequaled, either before or since. Unable to keep pace with the vast migration of humanity into the city, Chicago city officials fell far behind in providing police and fire protection, property inspection, sanitary and waste disposal, transportation, and other accommodations of government which were essential to the health and well-being of its citizenry. In 1871, the city reaped the full devastating impact of these combined deficiencies when fire destroyed well over half the city in one awful week of carnage and destruction. But Chicago rose Phoenix-like from the ashes to profit by her mistakes and to grow larger and more powerful than before.

Illinois literature of the period from the Civil War to World War I represents both the agragarian scene and the industrial revolution. The idyllic farm novel of the early nineteenth century takes a tone of discontent and determination, representing the farmers' plight, but remains largely unchanged. The novel of the city runs the gamut from light romance to religious and political tracts to economic treatises to social reform. Subjects as diverse as the times appear in these novels written by as bold a group of authors as ever set pen to paper.

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