How Did the Civil War Impact Slavery?
Poor white farmers quickly lost their social status. Eventually, landowners preferred to have Mexican immigrants or blacks as tenants. These farmers fell victim to the same debt and credit problems as black farmers. They became tied to their land and landlords. This new class arrangement pushed many of these lower class families to move north or west in search of better opportunity. New Working Conditions: Around the time of the Civil War working conditions transformed across the country. In the North, and some regions of the West, freedmen, Indians, and immigrants became prime candidates for the railroad construction, corporate farming, mining, and production businesses. This was long before worker regulations came into effect, so work days were long and dangerous and pay was below poor. The only thing that separated these workers from slaves was the fact they could leave their employer in search of new opportunity. Slave treatment differed from region to region, landowner to landowne
