Tithes, Southern Agricultural, were an expedient of the Confederate congress for securing subsistence for its armies. Because taxes collected in the depreciated Confederate currency did not bring in enough revenue, the ten percent levy in kind was adopted on 24 April 1863, to tap the resources of the 7 or 8 million Confederate farms. Yeoman farmers were especially burdened under the system, and their grievances, which exacerbated preexisting class tensions, eroded Confederate morale in the final months of war. But the revenues produced by the tithes were indispensable in sustaining the southern war effort.
Bibliography
Escott, Paul D. After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978.
