In history, it is no secret that the Civil War caused the Southern States to lose their leading economic position. But exactly how bad was the loss? The image below shows a census of a former slave living next door to its former owner and displays the changes in economic power.
The first part of the collage shows how much Adam Tate had in the 1860 census before the Civil War. Adam had $10,000 worth of real estate with $64,000 worth of personal assets from the horses to the slaves he owned. The second part shows the 1870 census after the Civil War. In that record, his worth was nothing. When you look below his household, you’ll see the households of Henry Charles and Alexander McCarti, both formerly enslaved men on Adam Tate’s plantation. What’s amazing and ironic about this census is that Henry Charles and Alexander McCarti were now worth more than their former plantation owner. The two of them were now both worth more than the man that once capitalized on their free labor!
The changing of the power post-Civil War is what triggered the hatred, jealousy and animosity that gave birth to radical hate groups such as the KKK whose intent was to threaten and limit the mobility and growing economic and political power of the freed slaves. Their actions later affected thousands of Black households for generations to come. To be continued.
This is a census to show the comparison of all the families lost after the Civil War.
