ABSTRACT
The development of southern agriculture following the Civil War is viewed in light of the military and political victories of the North. The problems of the South are viewed in the context of class struggles and their conjunctural solutions. The northern industrial capitalist class defeated the southern planter class in the Civil War. The Civil War left the South destroyed, disorganized, and destitute. Since the South was primarily an agricultural region before the war, the first goal of reconstruction was to restore crop production as rapidly as possible. The high price of cotton following the Civil War provided impetus to a resurrection of the plantation system. The merchant got credit from suppliers in the North on the basis of crop liens. Since cotton was the only commodity that the farmer could sell, it was the only crop for which a merchant could lend money. The radical Republicans wanted to make re-entry into the Union difficult for the South.
