CHAPTER I. THE AFTERMATH OF WARWhen the armies of the Union and of the Confederacy were disbanded in1865, two matters had been settled beyond further dispute: the Negro wasto be free, and the Union was to be perpetuated. But, though slaveryand state sovereignty were no longer at issue, there were still manyproblems which pressed for solution. The huge task of reconstructionmust be faced. The nature of the situation required that the measures ofreconstruction be first formulated in Washington by the victors and thenworked out in the conquered South. Since the success of these policieswould depend in a large measure upon their acceptability to bothsections of the country, it was expected that the North would beinfluenced to some extent by the attitude of the Southern people, whichin turn would be determined largely by local conditions in the South.The situation in the South at the close of the Civil War is, therefore,the point at which this narrative of the reconstruction naturally takesits beginning.The surviving Confederate soldiers came straggling back to communities,which were now far from being satisfactory dwelling places for civilizedpeople. Everywhere they found missing many of the best of their formerneighbors. They found property destroyed, the labor system disorganized,and the inhabitants in many places suffering from want. They found thewhite people demoralized and sometimes divided among themselves and theNegroes free, bewildered, and disorderly, for organized government hadlapsed with the surrender of the Confederate armies.Beneath a disorganized society lay a devastated land. The destruction ofproperty affected all classes of the population. The accumulated capitalof the South had disappeared in worthless Confederate stocks, bonds,and currency. The banks had failed early in the war. Two billion dollarsinvested in slaves had been wiped out. Factories, which had been runningbefore the war or were developed after 1861 in order to supply theblockaded country, had been destroyed by Federal raiders or seizedand sold or dismantled because they had furnished supplies to theConfederacy. Mining industries were paralyzed. Public buildings whichhad been used for war purposes were destroyed or confiscated for theuses of the army or for the new freedmen's schools. It was months beforecourthouses, state capitols, school and college buildings were againmade available for normal uses. The military school buildings had beendestroyed by the Federal forces. Among the schools which sufferedwere the Virginia Military Institute, the University of Alabama, theLouisiana State Seminary, and many smaller institutions. Nearly allthese had been used in some way for war purposes and were thereforesubject to destruction or confiscation.
CHAPTER I. THE AFTERMATH OF WARWhen the armies of the Union and of the Confederacy were disbanded in1865, two matters had been settled beyond further dispute: the Negro wasto be free, and the Union was to be perpetuated. But, though slaveryand state sovereignty were no longer at issue, there were still manyproblems which pressed for solution. The huge task of reconstructionmust be faced. The nature of the situation required that the measures ofreconstruction be first formulated in Washington by the victors and thenworked out in the conquered South. Since the success of these policieswould depend in a large measure upon their acceptability to bothsections of the country, it was expected that the North would beinfluenced to some extent by the attitude of the Southern people, whichin turn would be determined largely by local conditions in the South.The situation in the South at the close of the Civil War is, therefore,the point at which this narrative of the reconstruction naturally takesits beginning.The surviving Confederate soldiers came straggling back to communities,which were now far from being satisfactory dwelling places for civilizedpeople. Everywhere they found missing many of the best of their formerneighbors. They found property destroyed, the labor system disorganized,and the inhabitants in many places suffering from want. They found thewhite people demoralized and sometimes divided among themselves and theNegroes free, bewildered, and disorderly, for organized government hadlapsed with the surrender of the Confederate armies.Beneath a disorganized society lay a devastated land. The destruction ofproperty affected all classes of the population. The accumulated capitalof the South had disappeared in worthless Confederate stocks, bonds,and currency. The banks had failed early in the war. Two billion dollarsinvested in slaves had been wiped out. Factories, which had been runningbefore the war or were developed after 1861 in order to supply theblockaded country, had been destroyed by Federal raiders or seizedand sold or dismantled because they had furnished supplies to theConfederacy. Mining industries were paralyzed. Public buildings whichhad been used for war purposes were destroyed or confiscated for theuses of the army or for the new freedmen's schools. It was months beforecourthouses, state capitols, school and college buildings were againmade available for normal uses. The military school buildings had beendestroyed by the Federal forces. Among the schools which sufferedwere the Virginia Military Institute, the University of Alabama, theLouisiana State Seminary, and many smaller institutions. Nearly allthese had been used in some way for war purposes and were thereforesubject to destruction or confiscation.
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