1860s South

Watching movies about the Civil War reminds me of how many people weren't actually plantation owners. They were small farmers and business people who were just trying to make a living. That applies to both sides. Some of them had small home based businesses where they were blacksmiths, masonry workers, or timber cutters. Their home was their "office" and when that was destroyed, their business was gone.

The damage was devastating on both sides, as means of income and often the very lives of the wage earners were lost. What a sad period in US history.