HOW THE CIVIL WAR SPLIT FAMILIES

BASIC FACTS

• The civil war tore families apart in many different ways.
• Men and boys alike both defended their side to the death.
• Many families were divided over their beliefs on slavery.
• Many loved ones were killed in war.
• Women, children, and men had to cope with the loss of family and friends.

FAMILY CONFLICTS

• Often times sons and farmers would be pitted against each other.
• More liberal, young sons would join the side of the union
• While, more conservative, southern men would join the confederate side.
• Enslaved men and women were divided over how to respond .
• And whether or not to rebel against their owners and to fight in the war.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN

• Men and sons were the primary breadwinners, and so
• The women and children greatly suffered.
• Widowed women were left to run farms, plantations, and businesses.
• This left the families in disarray.
• Women had to nurse the physical and psychological wounds of the men.

MORE WAYS FAMILIES WERE DEVASTATED...

• After General Sherman's march a majority of the South was devastated.
• Houses were left in shambles, which left families homeless.
• Southern families lost everything they knew because of this.
• This began the long reconstruction of the south.