The Impact of the Civil War on Daily Life in South Carolina

Standard Indicator 8-4.6

Civil War

Had a profound impact on daily life in South Carolina.

Impact on Planters/plantation life:

Wealthy planters volunteered & served as officers in army

Some were exempt from service under “20 slave” law

Plantations destroyed Slavery abolished Fortunes lost

Impact on Women:

Tended farms & ran plantations Suffered shortages of supplies

(clothes, food) Forced to use substitutes for

necessities Confederate money worthless Served as nurses to soldiers Raised money for the war Many forced to leave homes to

return to ruins Left widowed & were sole family

providers

Lower Class Males:

Farmers Mainly lower class & more

served & died than elite

Impact on lives of soldiers:

Experienced devastation of war Suffered disease in camps Unsanitary conditions in camps Close quarters in camps Tired, sick, hungry, wet, scared,

& lonely Fought courageously

Impact on African Americans:

Fled to Union lines for freedom Many stayed on plantations working,

waiting for Union Army Emancipation Proclamation Confederate states did not obey

proclamation Freed as result of military action Emancipation Proclamation allowed

them to join Union Army They were discriminated against in

army (served under white officers & paid less)

Some forced to serve for Confederate masters in army

Impact on children:

Slave & free worked on farms & plantations

Suffered the same losses & troubles as adults

Some as young as 10 joined the armed forces, served as drummer boys, etc. & were killed in battle

left without fathers or disabled fathers

Manpower shortage in South during war so most males served in military & were pardoned after the war