Newspaper Article from 1865 is Found

The Daily American 1865

We face hard times at the end of the Civil War.

The death tolls for the North are 364,000 soldiers including more than 38,000 slaves. The South lost 260,000 soldiers. Many of these men were still young and have left their children and wives behind. This has been of mourning for the entire country.

The Civil War has left the South devastated and the land barren. Former Confederate soldiers have returned home only to find that their houses have been destroyed and that the cities they had lived in were now in ruins.

Southerners are dealing with the loss of their slaves. Managing their plantations has been hard without them. Not only that, but most of the crops have been destroyed and the cattle killed. This caused a plunge in the prices of southern farm properties. Railroads have also been destroyed as well as factories and this has taken a toll on the South’s economy.

African Americans in the South that have recently been freed are struggling to survive. They have found themselves without food, shelter, or a job. Some slaves have chosen to stay and work at the plantations in exchange for food and shelter. Some white men have been unlawful towards the freedmen. Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau to aid these people who are in need. Little by little, though, the freedmen are gaining rights and becoming a bigger part of our society. Some are starting to buy and own land and have established new black organizations. The most prominent ones are the churches. Many people from all age groups are starting to attend schools as well. Even with their harsh entrance into society, they rejoice for their newly gained freedom.

As we all may know, the Vice President, Andrew Jackson, became President after Lincoln’s death. President Johnson’s pursued his reconstruction plan which he named Presidential Reconstruction. It pardoned southerners who swore allegiance to the Union, permitted each state to hold a constitutional convention, and required states to void secession, abolish slavery, and repudiate the Confederate debt. Then the states could hold elections and rejoin the Union. It is similar to President Lincoln’s reconstruction plan but Johnson’s plan is more generous to the South. The two plans both pardoned southerners that swore allegiance to the Union and hold elections then rejoin the Union. They also both permitted each state to hold a convention to create a new constitution, but Lincoln’s plan required 10% of voters in that state to have sworn allegiance to the Union while Johnson’s plan didn’t require any.

This period of Reconstruction has been very helpful to get our country back on it’s tracks. It is to be hoped that we will be able to fully recuperate from this war that has left many in distress.