The close of the Civil War ushered in profound changes in the character of American society. The North emerged from the war at the forefront of the process of recasting the national identity. In spite of the men it had lost, the North had been secure from the ravages of war and both the industrial and agricultural sectors of its economy had enjoyed unprecedented growth during the conflict. In sharp contrast to Northern prosperity, the South emerged from the war devastated.

Fundamental to Southern recovery was the need to get people back to work, which was no simple task in a region where brutal warfare had forcibly emancipated the slaves, its primary labor force prior to the Civil War. Many freed people celebrated the destruction of the slave system by abandoning farms and plantations by the thousands, exercising their newfound freedom by...