Final answer:
After the Civil War, the South had to rebuild its government and economy, redefine social structures, and integrate the newly freed African Americans into society during the Reconstruction period. They faced issues such as political reintegration, civil rights, and economic transformation from a slave-based agrarian society to one involving sharecropping.
Step-by-step explanation:
After the Civil War, the South faced the monumental task of reintegrating into the Union and rebuilding its devastated landscape. The period known as Reconstruction spanned from 1865 to 1877, where the federal government provided guidelines and assistance for the recovery. Southern states had to form new governments, rebuild their economies, and develop a new social order in the absence of slavery.
The process involved several challenges including determining who would control state governments and how to protect the legal rights of the freedmen. Furthermore, the South had to confront the transition from an agrarian economy reliant on slave labor to a system where most farmers, including both white and black individuals, would partake in sharecropping, often without owning their land.
The aftermath of the war also urged a reevaluation of civil rights, especially for African Americans. The Federal government attempted to combat discriminatory laws, the so-called Black Codes, and protect the newly won freedoms of former slaves, a promise that was unevenly realized and fraught with setbacks.