Aftermath and Reconstruction: American Civil War

The turn of the Century witnessed 14 year old girls marrying 70 year old Civil War veterans. The girl married the senior citizen hoping to inherit his pension.

The American Civil War's tragic toll was death, wounds, destitution and diseases (including: mumps, measles, smallpox, influenza, malaria, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, chronic diarrhea, tuberculosis, gangrene, pneumonia, yellow fever, and venereal diseases). Diseases and mental illnesses pervaded many veterans and their families. There were tens-of-thousands of widows, single mothers and, consequently, the fatherless. The Reconstruction also witnessed tens-of-thousands of morphine addicts and tens-of-thousands of homeless veterans; the veteran either had no home to return to or a disability prevented him from enjoying life's basic tasks and responsibilities. Furthermore, Union soldiers and veterans did not receive the Department of Veterans Affairs' benefits and assistance, which fortunately was created in the twentieth century. During the Reconstruction, United States census records reflect that many African Americans returned to the South and became sharecroppers for their former masters. Also during the era, outlaws flourished and the United States witnessed the Wild West. (Aftershock - Beyond the Civil War, vividly reflects the atrocities that shocked the United States during the Aftermath and Reconstruction.)

The Federal government’s view of former Confederates in 1866 was that of "traitors, revolutionaries, and the enemy." The United States Senate in 1866

"I tell You, War is All Hell!" General William Tecumseh Sherman

The South suffered the greatest impact since most of the battles and skirmishes were fought on Southern soil. Sherman's March to the Sea, for example, destroyed thousands of homes, businesses and farms. In many Southern states the infrastructure was annihilated and to make matters worse the states were bankrupt. These harsh conditions were greatly exacerbated in the South, since crops and livestock were scarce. Much of the South was scarred and reduced to ruin and rubble, it was a virtual waste land, and all they had was each other and hope. The South, however, was not alone in her woes because the United States was now bankrupt and it would take decades to recover. 

In 1866, for example, 20% of Mississippi’s entire state budget went to the procurement of artificial limbs and, from 1871 to 1873, 3,929 Tennesseans filed claims with the Southern Claims Commission. They claimed that their property had been taken by the United States military for use during the Civil War. Immediately following the war, approximately 80,000 Alabama widows requested state assistance, while thousands of additional Alabama widows didn't request any aid. Prior to the Civil War, in 1860, there were 69,000 farms in North Carolina and 46,000 of these, or 71%, were less than 100 acres in size. In 1860 there were only 300 plantations of 1,000 acres or more in the state. The 1860 census listed 121 planters and 85,198 farmers. North Carolina has a long history of small farms, and cutting trees for fence rails was a major cause of forest destruction. The Civil War bankrupted most industries in North Carolina, including agriculture.

It was common practice for family, friends and neighbors to serve in the same regiment and many believed this unity made it unthinkable to coward and display the "white feather" in the presence of the enemy. Overall, many entrusted their loved ones to enlist and serve with relatives and neighbors, with the common belief that they maintained their loved ones' best interest in mind.

During the Reconstruction, families, communities and a wounded United States greatly needed more than ever--unity. Abiding unity, for example, was demonstrated as many North Carolina highlanders  served in the same regiments with the petitioners and founders of various counties, including Jackson County, North Carolina, which formed on January 31, 1851, and in honor of President Andrew Jackson.

"Well, I was born 87 years ago, June 22, 1852. My father was shot in the arm while in action during the first year of the Confederate War. He was sent home later because of illness and finally died with typhoid fever. He left ma with six chilluns, three boys and three girls. I was the oldest and I had to help ma raise the chilluns, but we worked hard, everybody had to work hard then." Mrs. W. W. Mize,  Athens, Georgia, on October 3, 1939.

Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Healing: This too shall Pass

(Also see Reconstruction Era and Acts 1865-1877)

As a direct result of the American Civil War, the United States witnessed the 13th, 14th and 15th U.S. Constitutional Amendments.