My Name is Henry W. Grady: Journalist and Voice of the New South Cities were damaged, farms were poor, and the region’s economy had fallen behind the industrial North. Through my work as a newspaper editor and public speaker, I tried to persuade Southerners that our future depended on rebuilding our economy, strengthening our cities, and creating what many of us called the “New South.” Growing Up After the Civil War I was born in 1850 in Athens, Georgia, and grew up during

The Economic Ruin of the South After the Civil War Across the Southern states, towns and cities that had once bustled with trade and commerce were scarred by war. Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, lay partly burned after fires spread through its warehouses during the Confederate evacuation. Atlanta had been devastated during General Sherman’s campaign, and Columbia, South Carolina, was left in ruins after flames consumed much of the city. Roads were damaged, br

My Name is Sarah Moore Grimké: Abolitionist & Human Equality Advocate I was born on November 26, 1792, in Charleston, South Carolina. I grew up in a wealthy and powerful family that owned enslaved people. My father, John Faucheraud Grimké, was a judge and a respected leader in South Carolina. Because of this, I was raised in a household surrounded by privilege and influence. Yet from a very young age, I noticed something deeply troubling about the world around me. I saw ensla

The War Ends and Women Step Into Public Life When the Civil War finally ended in 1865, the United States faced the enormous challenge of rebuilding a nation torn apart by four years of devastating conflict. Cities, farms, and railroads lay damaged, governments had collapsed in the South, and millions of formerly enslaved people were beginning new lives in freedom. Amid this uncertain landscape, women across the country stepped forward in ways that few Americans had ever witne

My Name is Nathan Bedford Forrest: Confederate General & Ku Klux Klan Leader I was born on July 13, 1821, near Chapel Hill, Tennessee. My childhood was spent on the rough edges of the American frontier, where hard work and determination shaped a man’s future. My family was not wealthy, and when my father died while I was still young, much of the responsibility for supporting the family fell upon my shoulders. I learned early that survival depended on strength, courage, and th

The Post-War South: Fear, Defeat, and Social Upheaval In the spring of 1865 the Civil War ended with the surrender of Confederate armies and the collapse of the government that had tried to form a new nation. Cities lay damaged, farms were abandoned, railroads were torn apart, and thousands of families mourned soldiers who would never return home. The South’s economy, which had been built largely on enslaved labor and agricultural exports, suddenly stood on uncertain ground.

My Name is Jourdon Anderson: Freedman, Farmer, and Voice of Freedom I was born into slavery around the year 1825 in Tennessee. I did not begin my life with the freedom to choose where I would live or what work I would do. Like millions of other African Americans born during that time, my life was decided by others before I was old enough to understand the world around me. I grew up on the plantation of Colonel P. H. Anderson near Big Spring in Tennessee. From the time I was

Black Codes & Sharecropping Freedom After the Civil War was one of the most dramatic turning points in American history. In 1865, after four long years of devastating conflict, the Civil War ended and millions of enslaved people in the United States were suddenly declared free. For generations they had lived under a system that controlled nearly every part of their lives—where they lived, whom they married, what work they performed, and even whether their families could remai

My Name is William H. Seward: Secretary of State and Servant of the Union I was born on May 16, 1801, in the small village of Florida in the state of New York. My father, Samuel Seward, was a respected doctor and judge, and from him I learned the importance of education and public service. As a boy, I spent many hours reading books and listening to the discussions of adults who spoke about politics, law, and the future of our young nation. The United States was still growing

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson A President from Tennessee: Andrew Johnson’s Unusual Rise to Power Andrew Johnson’s story began far from the halls of power in Washington. Born in 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Johnson grew up in deep poverty. His father died when Andrew was young, leaving his family struggling to survive. As a boy he was apprenticed to a tailor, learning a trade that would shape much of his early life. Unlike many future politicians of his time, Johnson h