Existing comment:
"We want to see people resuming their former avocations... business reviving and the channels of trade reopening... discord superceded by peace ... and the soldiers giving place to the citizen."
-- The Clarksville Chronicle, July 1865
Starting a New Life:
The end of open warfare in April 1865 did not end the old antagonisms. Some guerrillas and Confederate regulars remained in the field. Peace returned gradually throughout 1865. The 83rd Illinois appealed through their newspaper to the citizens of Clarksville, asking them to "return to the good feeling that existed before the war." The local economy recovered ahead of the rest of the South. Confederate veterans returned home to a different world and some family ties were broken forever.
The post-war period called Reconstruction took a toll on everyone. Differences in race, social status and political views took a long time to overcome.
The Freedman's Bureau, a federal agency, aided ex-slaves and planters in adjusting to freedom, which meant more than just jobs and houses. Segregated schools and churches were established, and became a focal point for the activities of the emerging black community.
Life, for most, was beginning to make sense again.
A Nation Mourns:
The death of Abraham Lincoln shocked the North and even parts of the South. Clarksville, which had been openly Secessionist in 1861, held mass meetings at local churches, mourning the death of the president. |