I am a German quilter, so I know just what we learned in school about the American Civil War. (Which means we learned that there was a war!) But I absolutely love those reproduction prints and made a stack of Log Cabin quilts using them, and I used reproduction prints for the backs too. To tell you the truth: it never occurred to me to ask what the ladies back then used for the backing! I just used a reproduction print every time and loved the look - front and back.
Happy quilting!