The Saga of Reconstruction

1. Explain some of the effects of the Civil War on the state of Georgia.

2. Why was this an especially difficult time for formerly enslaved Georgians?

3. What were formerly enslaved people promised after the Civil War? Why did the promise go unfulfilled?

4. Compare and contrast life as an enslaved farm worker versus the life of a tenant farmer or sharecropper.

1. Brainstorm with classmates to create a list of “Problems in the South after the Civil War.” Divide into small groups and distribute the problems among the groups. Discuss potential solutions within each group and present your findings to the class.

2. You are a teenager during the Civil War in the South. Your father fought and died during the war, and you and your mother, brothers, and sisters are left to rebuild your lives. Write a story about your life during the Reconstruction years, where and how you are living, and your ability to make a new life for yourself.

indebted: owing something (such as money) to someone or something

Reconstruction: the period from 1867 to 1877 when the southern states rejoined the northern states after the Civil War

sharecropping: working (planting, weeding, tending, harvesting) someone else’s land in return for a share of the crop, a place to live, and tools with which to work the land

1. Explain some of the effects of the Civil War on the state of Georgia.

Georgia suffered a dramatic population change because one out of every five men who went to war never returned. Formerly fertile land was devastated, leaving significantly less space for farming. There were not enough workers to plant and harvest crops because the workforce was greatly diminished, too much land was held by too few people, and formerly enslaved Georgians owned no property. Most people held Confederate money, which was worthless. In the wake of the Civil War and at the start of Reconstruction, Georgia had lost 75% of its former wealth. 

2. Why was this an especially difficult time for formerly enslaved Georgians?

They had to make their own way in the world. They were free but homeless, with no money and no land.

3. What did General William T. Sherman promise formerly enslaved people after the Civil War? Why did this promise go unfulfilled?

At the end of the war, General Sherman met with black leaders and promised formerly enslaved people “40 acres and a mule.” This land was in the Sea Islands along coastal Georgia that had been abandoned by their former plantation owners fleeing from northern troops. However, the promise was unfulfilled because these owners received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson and reclaimed their land.

4. Compare and contrast life as an enslaved farm worker with the life of a tenant farmer or sharecropper.

Like enslaved people, sharecroppers did not own the land where they lived but rather worked someone else’s land. However, sharecroppers were allowed to keep a portion of the crop while the other portion went to the landowner. As part of this arrangement, they were also given a place to live and tools to work the land. While sharecroppers were technically free, their living situations could be similar to enslavement, as they were often kept in debt to the landowners by arrangement, thereby forced to stay on the farm.