A Year in the South

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A year in the south
How did the different backgrounds of John, Cornelia, Lou, and Samuel affect their abilities to adjust to the end of the war? How did the end of the war affect their daily lives? Explain, making sure to support your answer with evidence and quotes from the text?
Adjustment to the end of the war
In A year in the south, Stephen V. Ash uses firsthand experiences of four individuals to depict their experiences in the South during the phase of the American Civil War and Beginning of the Reconstruction. The experiences of the four individuals from a slave, former Confederate soldier, a Minister and widow sum up the Southern experience. Even though, Ash does not document the experience of Unionists in the South, the four stories take into account the context. The hopes and fears of the four characters are captured from the winter, spring, summer, fall and another winter season of 1865 and 1866.
John Robertson was eighteen years old and sympathized with the Confederacy in a region that largely supported the Unionists. Despite taking an oath to support the Union, the Unionists sought revenge as Robertson then became their target. John faces hostilities from the neighbors and his resolve to start a new life is an indication that Robertson sought to start afresh rather than endure further hostilities (Ash 183-184). The end of the war was synonymous with new begins and since the Union finally had an upper hand, it was difficult for Robertson to cope with the challenges
Cornelia McDonald owned slaves prior to the war and had seven children, but after the war. McDonald lost some property and her husband, leaving her less off as a refugee in Virginia. McDonald was worse off after the war compared to the other three individuals as she lived in poverty and found it hard to fend for the family. Cornelia faced challenges having being forced from living in a comfortable home to dilapidated accommodations, where finding food was a struggle (Ash 97). Additionally, Women were thrust in new and unfamiliar roles, as Cornelia was now less reliant on her husband, but this also demonstrated that that she had capacities that would otherwise have been unknown while living with the husband.
Cornelia found it hard to deal with desperation, but resolved to improve her family’s economic well-being resulting to tutoring some young ladies to put food on the table. Her experience took a turn for the worst compared to the other three characters after war. Nonetheless, the realization that doing whatever was necessary to bring income, demonstrates the character’s resilience in the face of adversity. The disappearance of the Southern civic life meant that survival was the primary concerns for families (Ash 98).
Lou was slave who had worked in different Southern states, but then gained freedom and found work in Samuel Agnew’s estate. Lou was determined to break away from the shackles of slavery. Even though, Agnew was treated as a commodity, he was the one who viewed the future more positively given that he now had the independence and freedom to work. According to Ash (23), the necessary did not necessary receive harsh treatment from the slave owners, but the wives of the slaveholders also mistreated the slaves. Lou realized that the freedom to work in an environment where there was freedom of movement would be better since the working conditions would likely have improved.
To Lou the Unionists fight for their freedom was an opportunity to escape from their bondage. Unlike the other slaves, Lou received preferential treatment for his abilities, but he was also hopeful like the others that the slavery would come to an end. Having already been making money more than most other slaves, Lou was well prepared for life outside the plantation. Lou was also concerned that the few possessions he owned would be seized by the Yankees, while also facing the threat of death if trying to escape, as the runaway slaves were still treated as their master’s property when they were captured.
Samuel lived on his father’s plantation, but did not directly participate in the war, despite Yankee troops having invaded the Mississippi plantation various times. Samuel was troubled as a man of faith who witnessed the war and batting world troubles. Agnew’s experience of the war influenced his perceptions that the there was likely to no outright winner of the war. As such, Agnew also found it harder to cope since the owners of large plantations were accused of being the main reason for the breakup of the Union (Ash 145). This placed Sam in a precarious situation and he did not explicitly condemn slavery, while there were the rising cotton prices and no readily available cheap labor.
Agnew was able to coped with life with the because of the strength of the family re...