1. Effects of the Civil War
Leading to Reconstruction

2. Surrender at Appomattox
April 9, 1865

3. Civil War and Economics
Overall, the Northern economy expanded while the Southern economy was shattered…
Inflation
1861, average family spent $6.65/month on food
Mid-1863, spending $68/month on food…IF they could find food to buy!

4. Inflation
To raise revenue, both the Union and the Confederacy issued paper money
Northern currency succeeded because the public maintained confidence in the Northern economy
Currency issued by the Confederacy was backed by gold – individual states also used its own currency.
Because the war weakened the Southern economy, the public lost faith in the Confederate currency
Value went down, prices went up
Inflation rates in the South: 7,000% (prices 70 times higher)
Inflation rates in the North: 80%

5. Impact of the Civil War in Economics
Union blockade also created shortages of salt, coffee, nails, needles, and medicines
Decline of the plantation system
Slaves leaving plantations
Slave resistance
Plantations being destroyed during battles
New federal tax
Congress decided to help pay for the war by tapping American citizens’ wealth.
In 1863, Congress enacted the tax law that authorized the nation’s first income tax, which takes a percentage of an individual’s income

6. Casualties on both sides
Problems other than Casualties:
Poor living conditions
Most soldiers failed to wash their hands/face once a day or take a bath once a week
Body lice, dysentery, diarrhea
Diet
Beans, bacon, square biscuits OR “cush” (stew of beef, cornbread mixed in bacon grease)
Medical Care

7. Gettysburg

9. Civil War Casualties in Comparison to other wars

10. Economic Costs Union war costs totaled $2.3 billion
Confederate War costs ran to $1 billion
Union war costs increased the national debt from $65 million in 1860 to $2.7 billion in 1865
Confederate debt ran over $1.8 billion in 1864
Union inflation peaked at 182% in 1864
Confederate inflation rose to 7,000%

11. Lincoln’s Assassination
Ford’s Theater – April 15, 1865

12. The assassination John Wilkes Booth
“Thus be it ever to tyrants” or “The South is avenged!”

13. Death & Execution

14. Road to Reconstruction
The Civil War had ended – slavery and secession were gone – now the country faced 2 problems:
How to restore the Southern states to the Union
2) How to integrate approximately 4 million newly freed African Americans into national life