8-5.2 Focus Question: What was the economic impact for Reconstruction for different groups of South Carolinians 8-5.2

When the Civil War ended, the South Carolina was in ruins. The states economy was shattered. Reconstruction policy had little had little impact on the South’s recovery from devastation after the Civil War.

Plantation Owners: As a result of the war, and the 13th Amendment, plantation owners lost their labor force and a very large part of their wealth. Many thought their slaves loyal to them and were astonished that their former slaves left their plantations. They became resentful and even hostile towards the freedmen Drayton Hall in Charleston was one of the few plantation houses still standing after the Civil War

Plantation Owners: The wealthy elite now had to perform all the normal household duties or pay their workers. They found their Confederate dollars' were worthless and all they had was land. Congressional Reconstruction brought a temporary end to their political control in South Carolina.

Small Farmers: Small farmers who had not owned slaves were not directly affected financially by their liberation. But now they had to compete with African American sharecroppers who were selling the same goods as they were. Many who had felt a sense of social superiority to slaves now felt that superiority threatened. Many reacted with resentment and anger towards the freedmen. Some joined the ranks of vigilante groups that terrorized African Americans.

Freedmen: Freedmen although free, now had to find a place in society during the Reconstruction period. Many left seeking relatives sold “down the river” or went seeking a taste of freedom. Many returned back to the only area that they knew, their former Plantations.

Freedmen: With the assistance of the Freedman's Bureau and their own determination, they worked to consolidate their families and communities and establish a network of churches and institutions

Freedmen: Unable to buy their own land, many African Americans entered into agreements With southern landowners who needed workers but did not have a lot of cash to pay their workers. The sharecropping system kept the freedmen economically dependent on the landowner. Freemen suffered from intimidation, discrimination and violence during the Reconstruction period, but carved out independence for themselves and finally enjoyed equal citizenship.

Sharecroppers Sharecropping was desperate arrangement made between the plantation owners and Freed slaves. White plantation owners who needed workers hired freedmen to work In their fields. They paid their workers mostly in crops rather than money. The freed slaves who lacked money, food, or shelter, had little choice But to agree to the arrangement. In practice, it differed very little from slavery.

Women: The impact of Reconstruction on women depended on their social class. Wives of elite plantation owners and small farmers suffered the loss of social status And feared the economic competition from freedmen. Because of the many men killed and injured from the Civil War, women took on non-traditional roles. As a result of the Constitution of 1868, women did get some rights such as the right to own property in their own name after marriage.

Northern Immigrants: Many women and men came to the state of South Carolina during Reconstruction and then stayed as teachers, missionaries, entrepreneurs, and soldiers. Carpetbaggers was the nickname given to northerners who came south after the Civil war seeking political and financial gain in the midst of the destruction and suffering going on in the South. They were hated by the southerners and not accepted into society. Scalawag was the nickname given to Southern Republicans who were sympathetic to the Carpetbaggers and supported Reconstruction policies. They were seen as disloyal to the South.

Charleston, SC after the Civil War