Why did people's daily lives change in the decades following the Civil War?

The daily lives of
Southerners changed more drastically than those of Northerners in the years following the Civil
War.  The Southerners faced personal financial difficulties, as well as a severely weakened
economy.  The Northerners experienced a period of prosperity after the Civil War.

The South once again joined the Union after the Civil War.  The Confederate States were
dissolved and the Southern states became part of the United States again.  Slaves were freed,
which caused significant economic changes in the South.  The agricultural industry had relied
heavily on slave labor.  Slaves had planted and harvested crops on large plantations.  Planters
had to hire laborers for the first time after the war ended.  Many were already suffering
economic ruin from the war and did not have the cash to pay workers.  Sharecropping became a
common solution to this lack of funds.  Many formerly wealthy planters became poor.  Rather than
produce crops like tobacco and cotton on smaller scales, they had to produce mass amounts to
make enough money.  Many people had to borrow money and debt grew in the South.  Families who
had previously lived comfortably had to do without.  Some people even went hungry.  Members of
entire families had to do their share to help provide.

Former slaves were
able to attend school for the first time after the Civil War.  Some former slaves also were able
to own land for the first time.  They were able to live with relative freedom for the first
time, though racism made their lives difficult.  Some slaves also faced uncertainties as they
lived independently for the first time.  They were freed, but not given any money, food, or
shelter.  They had to find ways to provide for these basic necessities for the first time in
their lives.

In the Northern states, there was economic prosperity.
 Factories were built and jobs were plentiful.  Railroads were built throughout the northern
United States.  Railroads expanded to the West from the North, as well.  These railroads were
federally funded, and they also provided many jobs.

Soldiers on both sides
returned home.  The male workforce resumed, so many women who had served as nurses and in other
capacities had to return home.  Many former soldiers in the South had trouble finding work and
were forced to live in poverty, while former soldiers in the North were able to get jobs in
factories and for the railroad companies.

 

 

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