The subject of the reconstruction of the U.S. South after the Civil War is one of the most controversial in history. Many of the records that remain from that time have been influenced by one side or the other of the conflict, and the document’s authenticity is impossible. This war helped make the American people what they are today, a nation that values freedom and human rights. All of this is due to the victory of the North, whose ideals are still alive today and through which it can be said that America has become one of the most important nations in the world. But the other side of the conflict must also be considered. Regardless of how the U.S. looks now, and the Southern states included the importance of how this period affected their history cannot be overstated. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the vitality of the U.S. South and how the war affected the development of its social and economic qualities. Historians have spent a lot of time studying this problem, and this study will show that they were right in making their reports.
As stated earlier, the war ended in favor of the Northern states, which influenced life and development in America as a whole. Speaking of life in the South, it is worth noting that most of their economy was based on industry and the slave trade. Since the black population was huge and there was virtually no freedom of rights and actions, none of the Americans worked but only relied on the strength and endurance of the enslaved people. With the war over, the slave trade disappeared, not to say that it disappeared instantly. It took several years, but the Confederates were unwilling to change their business model and plans, so they kept the idea of reviving slavery in the future in their minds to the end. Because of this, the economy was in decline, with many places of production and material production left without management and labor. This affected not only the Confederates themselves but the economy of America as a whole. Such ideas were able to change in the future but speaking of the time when the events of the Civil War took place, the economy, tired of the war, was in horrible shape and needed to be restarted. Such a solution was impossible to execute in the conditions after the war since slavery had been abolished, and thus there was no understanding of activities in production.
This led to the second problem, which is a direct consequence of the first, namely the untrained workforce. Few could have counted that the war would significantly affect the order of things that had already been in place for many years. So virtually no one was training workers since most of them were blacks who had owned their leaders for generations. Although the level of writing among the population was minuscule, the knowledge acquired was sufficient only for those engaged in the enterprise’s work. However, it is essential to understand that the low literacy level affected the manufacturer’s development as a whole and in the future because letting these people go will leave the enterprises without the knowledge to operate the apparatus. Therefore, it also became a problem on the way to the development and improvement of the economy of the country.
In addition, it is vital to consider that the war was civil, that is, one people among themselves. Thus, neither side could win such a course of battle because it ruined not only the economic sphere of life but also the social sphere, bringing discord between the inhabitants of one country. Despite the outcome of the battles, these people are still one people, but the disputes among themselves have prevented them from seeing this truth. Many years later, even after the war, tensions between the people remained and played a role in the development of the entire region. Thus, there are still disputes over how the battles should have ended and who was right in the end. Of course, these are much weaker than they were at the time, for despite the status of the end of hostilities, people still opposed each other and continued to fight, even though direct hostilities had already ended.
In sum, it can be said that that period in American history was one of the most challenging and controversial. Despite the war’s end, people saw only the issues on the surface as a problem but could not see how much they suffered from their decisions. This affected all development branches and fostered new challenges to the diversity of positions in the various disputes. The people of America were divided for many years because of the war and could only come together many years later. It is impossible to imagine such a thing now, for those times have taught the current generation of Americans a great deal, namely that despite the various disputes and grievances, they are the same people who, regardless of the outcome and the winners, will not be able to live an entire life.