Thursday, October 1, 2009
The "old" and "new" south
The civil war changed the face of this country in many ways. Specifically examine the south during this period of transition. What impact did the civil war have on southern states. Describe what is meant by the terms the "old" south and the "new" south, highlighting and discussing differences in the south before and after the civil war.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Civil war had a great impact on the southern states physical and emotional makeup. Many plantations were burned, crops were stolen, and every thing that had value to the northerners was taken for the war. Slaves were declared free and the life that rich plantation owners knew was over. In the “old south” before the civil war, southerners were self obsessed, shallow, and party makers and goers. All that mattered to them was land and slaves. Land to them was the only thing worth living for, dyeing for, and marring for. With the slaves to do all the work many southern children were extremely spoiled and very rich. So when the war between the states started the south was very ill equipped for the battle of slavery. The north had guns, ammunition, mines, and cannon factories and the south only had gentlemen, lots of talk, and arrogance. As the war started the plantation owners soon learned how ill equipped they were for the fights. Very soon the south was being driven back as Yankees burned, destroyed and demolished the only life the people had ever known. The rise of the “new south” was slow and painful. It was hard for the southern soldiers to admit that they couldn’t beet the Yankees and that they would have to accept the new life being forced upon them. The plantation owners now had to work the fields themselves, they had to make their own food, feed their own children, and slaves were no longer around at their beck and call. There were high property taxes for homes that were still left standing and not many people were able to keep up with the demands of such a new, hard life. The brave learned how to live off the land and how to live alone, and instead of land being the most important, family, friends, and surviving took that place.
ReplyDeleteIn the era before the civil war the south was a proud and prosperous place, with their large plantations being worked by slaves, giving the owners plenty of time to be social and host large barbeques and dances. The south was a place built on tradition and were social standing was of the utmost importance. When the prospect of war grew near the south was arrogant, believing that they would be able to force the Yankees back north without much of a fight, even though there were few factories to produced materials necessary for the war, such as cannons and rifles, in the south. After the war the south was ravaged and barren. The landscape that had once held the beautiful plantations that had hosted the magnificent parties that were filled with high class men and women, dressed in breathe-taking gowns was gone. Left in its place was a scared and burnt region that would never return to what became known as the old south. The south was no longer a proud and dignified place as it had once been. The men who had been well off, lost much of their fortunes and had to find other means of making money because the plantations simply wouldn’t succeed without the slave labor. Women who had never had to do manual labor found themselves working as if they were common women. After the war the upper class people in the south had to start working harder than the ever had before just to provide the basic necessities for their children and themselves.
ReplyDeleteBefore the civil war started, families were content with their day to day activities, cheerful and exuberant each night as they daintily got together. All men and women were very proper, wearing dresses of great value, the women’s beauty shown off candidly. Each woman had a dress made of expensive looking material, and the men dressed accordingly as well. They each had slaves to do the work for them and each man and woman thought marriage was best before the war. Their image of war was simple, thinking they were going to win the war, plain and simple. But once the war started, all their hopes and dreams were lost. Family members were gone, the destruction leaving families without much of anything. Famine occurred in numerous areas and houses were completely burnt down. The remaining survivors struggled to survive off what they had left, each and every family trying to find jobs to make money. Not only was their pride lost though, but their elegance and style was lost as well. Women were a mess, their dresses lost with their other belongings, their clothes made from whatever they could find. Families had a hard time adjusting to life after the war, having to work and change their way of life because of the damage. Living in the “new” south was harder for a lot of families, each and every person doing everything they could to get through each next day they lived.
ReplyDeleteThe civil war was a period of transition for this country, where different views caused a way of life to be forever altered, specifically in the South. Before the civil war, most southerners lived on huge plantations, having slaves in charge of its operation, with an attitude that White man was the only thing worth working for. White Southerners were extremely set in their ways, and there way of life provided them with a sort of elegance to the way they lived, a way which they enjoyed and depended on very much. Also, before the civil war actually began and empty threats from the North were the only source of action, Southerners were extremely arrogant and overconfident, sharing the same swaggering boast that the “Yankees” would get a lesson they’d never forget if they were to take on the Old South. However, once fighting actually began, Southern men who had once been so excited for war slowly got their morale beaten out of them with each lost battle and failed invasion, experiencing first hand that war is not a game. Finally, when the last taste of morale failed and the South collapsed into one giant heap of rubble, the Southern brash smile faded into a rueful grimace and a life style was drastically changed. More than anything, the South’s elegance in life was destroyed; most of everyone was dirty and bitter with absolutely nothing left to remind them of what had once been. With plantations gone and slaves free, Southerners faced the brutal reality that they did not know how to continue, leaving them to have to find a completely new way of life. This change in life is the transition from the “old” south, which was the arrogant, slave dependant South, to the “new” South, which was the slave-less, recovering South. The civil war forced change and revolution in the South, a permanent alteration that everyone would have to get used to.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil War changed our country, specifically the south in countless ways. The “old” south was the time before the Civil War and was incredibly different from the “new” south. The “old” south was full of plantations, parties and superficial ideals, with land being the most important thing. The people were incredibly proper with the ladies dressing in expensive cloths and gossiping together at parties about one another and countless other frivolous topics. The men thought of themselves as gentlemen and took the upmost pride in their land, slave labor, hobbies, money, and status. As the war drew nearer, the South was arrogant and believed that they could win because they were gentlemen with slaves and the Yankees didn’t stand a chance. They believed that even though the North was incredibly better equipped with factories to produce goods, rifles, and other military equipment that the war was still going t o be an easy one and they would beat the Yankees in a few moths time. As the war progressed, the southerners realized how ill-equipped they were and that the fight to keep the lives they loved was a lost cause. After the war was over the old south turned into the new south. Plantations were burned and destroyed; many of the beautiful houses that once held magnificent parties and banquets were vandalized or completely ruined. Everyone in the south was poor, and had no way of making any money because the slaves were gone, and the land was destroyed. Many people had their land taken away due to taxes. The land was gone, there pride was gone and their whole way of life was gone. Women couldn’t afford new dresses, the ones that they had were dirty and torn, and the magnificent parties were a thing of the past because no one had the time, energy, land, or money to throw them. Adjusting to the “new” south was a struggle for most of the remaining southerners. Families had a hard time providing for each other and everyone had to adjust to the different way of life that the “new” south introduced where the most important thing to anyone was survival.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil war changed the south immensely in many ways. The “old” south, which was before the Civil war, consisted of rich, selfish, partying people, with very spoiled children. Many of them did not want to work, so they hired many slaves to make the money for them. The only thing the southerners truly cared about was their slaves and their land. When war approached, the plantation owners and people of the south thought the war would be a quick, easy battle. Due to this mentality the south did not prepare weapons, ammunition, or supplies needed to win the war over slavery. In the north, they were well equipped with ammunition, plenty of weapons, cannon factories, and mines. As the war continued, the Yankees easily took control of the south, burning towns, destroying them, and ruining plantations along the way. When the “new” south arose, many problems reached the rich plantation owners. They no longer had slaves to do all the work for them; they now had to work the fields to feed their families and to pay high property taxes. Many of the families struggled to pay the taxes on their large homes. The “new” south was very sad, it was hard to live off the burned land, and now rich families had to work to survive.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil War, one the most significant wars in American history, had an immensely large impact on the United States as a whole, but the South was specifically the most affected by this great era of bloodshed. Before the Civil War, the “Old South” enjoyed prosperous times because of cash crops grown on large plantations, where the owners grew wealthy due to their hardworking slaves. Parties were frequent, spirits were high and the people of the South never thought this could change. They developed their own culture, where southern hospitality, pride, and arrogance were in the forefront of society, a diversely different view from that of the North. Slaves were the backbone of the South, although they bared few fruits of their labor, and a product of this was that the whites in the South grew spoiled, lethargic and ignorant, characteristics that contributed to the start of the Civil War. Once war erupted, the southern states started devoting everything they had to fight for their freedom and at first southern society stayed intact. However, once the war effort started to go downhill and the Yankee army began to push south, the South was destined for defeat, meaning southern society and its culture would never return to its former status. In only a matter of years, an entire way of life was turned on its head. Slaves gained their freedom, once fertile lands were ravished by war, magnificent plantations were in ruin, and the people of the South were forced into a new existence, a reality many failed to cope with. This rebuilding turned the “Old South” into the “New South” and was a painful and long series of events, which the people of the South fought to the end. Southerners who once had been rich now had to pay hefty taxes on their lands, work the land that had once been labored on by slaves, and rebuild their lives. Reconstruction of the South took decades, and once completed it would never be close to what it once was. Certain characteristics remained behind from the “Old South,” but the majority of it was erased to the pages of history, and in the years following the Civil War, the South was in the largest identity crisis in history.
ReplyDeleteBefore the civil war, the southerners were often characterized as arrogant, self-absorbed, and immensely superficial. They frequently attended elegant parties, and lived in enormous, luxurious homes. The upper class in the “old” South lived on large estates and employed multiple slaves. Many of the shallow, aristocratic women married for land, as that was an extremely important factor in choosing a husband. Also, with the slaves working the fields and tending their property, the landowners were able to concentrate their efforts on deciding what beautiful gown or suit to wear, and which party to attend. This ultimately illustrates how spoiled the southerners were in the “old” South, and how this privileged life lead to the prevailing attitude of superiority and entitlement. When they heard news of a war encroaching upon them, they did not take it seriously and believed it would be an easy win for them. They also assumed it would be an immensely quick battle, and that the Northerners were assuredly naïve and unprepared. But, as the battles began to proceed, it became obvious that the Yankees were better equipped. The North possessed incomparable weapons, such as cannons, plenty of ammunition, and factories to produce it all. The South was destined to suffer deprivation, devastation and severe casualties. It was not easy for the South to admit that they could not win this war, and things dramatically changed once the fighting was over. Their land and buildings had been destroyed, their crops burned, signifying that this was most definitely the “new” South. Fathers and mothers quickly learned it was a necessity to provide for their families, and that there were no longer slaves to do the work for them. Also, they realized owning large homes and estates were incredibly expensive, and the taxes outrageous. While the “new” South rapidly sprouted, southerners began to face reality and comprehend that this different way of life was going to be challenging. They were going to have adapt to a new culture, a new environment, and overcome many obstacles in order to survive.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil War was the most deadly and devastating war in American history, with the South facing the brunt of this devastation. In the pre-civil war South, or "Old South," wealthy plantation owners lived almost as an aristocracy in a class all their own. They owned huge swathes of land, on which slaves toiled and the plantation owners prospered. In this upper class, parties which stretched from noon till midnight, elegantly clad women, and jabbering, cigar smoking men were the norm. Although this world was enjoyed by few in the South, all trade and economy revolved around these wealthy plantation owners. So when the North called for an end to slavery and the end of this life, the South, led by these wealthy landowners, went to war with their states. At first, the South enjoyed victory and glory, but as equipment, money, troops, and morale became scarce, the North pushed ruthlessly South, raping the land which once ran society as they went. In just 4 years, the entire dynamic in the South had changed drastically. Land was destroyed, slaves freed, taxes imposed, and the Southern culture was torn away at the roots. In the long and tumultuous decades of reconstruction that followed, the South struggled to cope with their new lives. Although some aspects of the "Old South" were preserved, a "New South" was emerging. In this new era, the people of the South rebuilt their economy by the sweat on their own brows, rather than the slaves. Property taxes soared, and people struggled to keep the land they loved so well. The virtually aristocratic upper class was eliminated, and blacks slowly gained more and more rights. Even today, we see remnants of the old southern culture, as heritage is naturally and rightly preserved, but the south that once was is long dead. The "New South" is a mixture of tolerance and prejudice, traditional and contemporary, rural and urban. The culture of the South has changed immensely since its prosperous days of plantations and slavery, though still its people remain proud and resiliant.
ReplyDeleteAs represented in the movie, Gone With the Wind, the Civil War had a great impact on the southern states. The south was dependent on the African American slaves to do all the house hold chores, farming, and such. Southern women dressed extravagantly, going to parties and outings with their friends, families, and neighbors who owned plantations around them. White people were also in control of the black people. This was referred to as the “old south”, When the Yankees came, and the Civil War began. Thousands of people lost their homes to soldiers in need of shelter; items were stolen, or broken, while the southerners had no where to live. During this time, slave owners lost their slaves, allowing black people across the south to have temporary freedom. This is referred to as the “new south”. Thousands of southerners were forced to rebuild plantations without the work of slaves and little money. Many people struggled to make a living, making due with what ever they had. This was a long and painful time for many, but the “new south” had to be reborn in order to stay alive.
ReplyDeleteMany changes occurred in the Southern states in the time before and after the Civil War. Before this long fight, which turned to battle, the Southerners had a very superficial way of living their lives. As shown in the movie “Gone with the Wind,” the topics of conversation in the pre-civil war South were often about the way each person looked, the guy that they were with, or what they should wear. The plantation owners, who had dozens of slaves, who were the basis of this extensive fight with the North, often gathered for parties which also depicted their shallow life styles. During the Civil War a sense of reality came across the Southerners when they saw the dead, or dying, bodies of their loved ones lying on the battlefields, waiting to be taken away. They also obtained these feelings when they had to move from town to town due to the war that was tearing apart their homes. After the war, some things stayed the same, segregation against blacks remained heavy for many years, and still, even today, some racist feelings remain in some Southerners. But, other things about the society did change, more Southerners decided to join the military to defend their country, and Southern citizens gained a more realistic sense of the world and what is truly important. In many ways the Civil War brought change to the entire country and especially the Southern society, but because of these changes we have become the united nation that we have and love today.
ReplyDeleteThe civil war had a huge impact on the people who lived in the South during this time of change. Before the civil war, the “old” south was a place where white people lived on huge plantations, without a care in the world for anything besides personal desires. The Southerners lived on huge plantations where the slaves did all the work and the white people did not have to work at all. People went around only worrying about who was in love with who or what they were going to wear to the latest party. The women did not worry about the impending war at all and the men had it in their minds that they would beat the Yankees extremely easily. The people of the South were very confident and believed that they would have absolutely no trouble beating the Yankees. By the time the war came around the South began to realize that the Yankees were more prepared and better equip for this war then they were. The “old” South began to turn into the “new” South, a place of homelessness, poverty, and death. Southerners were losing their plantations and the Yankees were coming in and destroying their towns, raiding their homes and taking all of their goods. The Yankees continued to push the Southerners out of their homes and towns, forcing them to run and hide continuously. Before and after the civil war were two extremely different times for the South. The “old” South was arrogant and believed that nothing could touch them, but they soon turned into the “new” South, the South that now was in ruins, destroyed by the Yankees, and left to start over, without slaves.
ReplyDeleteThere are many occurrences that would be able to change the way a society acts, which would modify their lifestyle. People abandon their previous way of life and recreate their lives again. One such act would be after a war. Devastation and destruction is the main outlook of the people. The South, after the Civil War, would be an excellent of this. Before the war broke out, Southerners valued their land and slaves, always boasting about what they had. The men and women did not have to work because they had slaves who did the work for them. But once the war began, the men went off to fight, brimming with arrogance. But the war soon took a wrong turn, and they found themselves swamped with disease, injured men, and death. Since they lost the war, the Southerners lost their livelihood. Women now had to start working just to put bread on the table. The South turned into a whole different place. People had to shift their way of life, such as plantations to general stores. After the Civil War the South went through drastic changes, which in return led to a new order of things.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil War was one of the largest times of change to those of the south, economically, physically, and socially. As observed in Gone With the Wind, it can almost be concluded that the “old” and “new” south were entirely separate worlds. Pre-War time, the wealthy landowners spent their time in luxury, as everything that had been done, initiating their success, had been accomplished by hundreds of slaves they had bought in auction or inherited. The lives of men were built off extravagant parties, beautiful women, and prideful land. Numbers were everything to these southerners, yet when the war came around, they had nothing, for they had had the dark skinned working each trade, which evidently meant they were the only educated and trained. Before the war, men honored themselves with the building of plantation houses, much like large, immense palaces, complete with ballrooms and libraries. The women however, had nothing more than their appearance, squeezing themselves into laced corsets and effervescent, flowing, beautiful gowns made of high quality fabric and trimmings. The children even, were spoiled, pampered, and often oblivious to the outside world. However, things took a one hundred eighty degree turn once the Northerners invaded in their attempts to defend and free the enslaved negroes. The once privileged rich folk became desperate, depressed, and pitiful. Whole towns and cities were destroyed; crops burnt to ashes, buildings pulled to the ground, and blood smeared along the streets. Each man had to learn to live life again, without any true knowledge of the real working world. Seems to me that these historic adults have become what we are, as 21st century teenagers, helpless, confused, and ignorant.
ReplyDeletePost Civil War was the hardest times of change to peoples of the south whom had lived there all their lives and held their family past and their hopes and dreams in the lifestyle of what they knew as the south. They were shaken on levels such as economics, socially, mentally and physically. As shown in the movie, Gone with the Wind, the differences between the “old” south and the “new” south were so immensely different to a point that most could not make the adjustment. Pre-War the southern lifestyle was filled with large plantations with slaves to work the field, pretty young women forcing themselves into a look and body to impress their beaus, and men whom cockily sat around, wishing a war that they were far from prepared for, upon themselves as they filled their eyes with the lacy dresses of their women and the merriment of the plantation owner’s balls. This was immensely changed when the war came about, men young and old were sent off to fight, leaving behind their families and plantations, for a war that was lost from the beginning. No longer did these young men carelessly ride about from court shipping a girl to a party at the nearest plantation, rather they were in territory that was vastly unfamiliar and died from diseases and bullets. Not only were the men of the “old” south affected, their innocent and delicate women were also. Ladies who had never before been out in the sunlight without a shall for fear of freckling, were now out working the fields side by side with whatever loyal slaves that had remained during the war. The world as they had known it was gone, and the once “privileged” were now looked upon as cases of pity. Life was completely rearranged for them, and the “old” south was long gone. It took many painful years for the southerners to begin to accept the ushering in of the “new” south.
ReplyDelete