Putting the Nation Back Together Again

After the Civil War, the United States was faced with one of its greatest challenges of all time. The documents which contain the basic ideals of this country, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, would truly be tested during the years after the war. In addition, the North had to reconstruct the entire Southern way of life. Before the war, the Southerners were extremely sensitive about the issue of eradicating slavery because it was the basis of their lifestyles. As a result of the war, slavery was like a rug that was pulled from under their feet. To make matters worse, the Northern army had pillaged and burned a large amount of land in the South as they went along. Also, no one had the slightest clue how to handle the millions of uneducated African Americans that were now free. These former slaves only possessed one skill, the skill of labor. Now that they attained their freedom, they had no knowledge of what to do with it. The North, on the other hand, was doing extr...