Many Catholics served in the Civil War armies, both North and South, and the bishops rejected the antiwar and anti-draft sentiments of some members. The rapid rise of the Irish out of poverty, and the continued growth in membership, especially in industrial and urban areas, made the church the largest denomination in the U.S. Distrusting public schools dominated by Protestants, Catholics built their own network of parochial elementary schools (and, later, high schools), as well as colleges, and public funding for parochial schools was a controversial issue. As the Bennett Law episode in 1890 in Wisconsin demonstrated, Catholics were willing to cooperate politically with German Lutherans to protect their parochial schools. A distinct Catholic vote existed, however; in the late 19th century, 75% of Irish and German Catholics in America voted for Democratic presidential candidates. The Irish increasingly controlled the Democratic party machinery in major cities.