civil war - economic
During and after the civil war, the south was left completely devastated. The south was already not a wealthy place, but by the end of the war the soldiers were shoeless, out of ammo and guns, ripped pants and shirts, and had little food. The only ways they got more of these supplies were by stealing them off of dead Union, or fellow Confederate soldiers. This is mainly because they had very little factories and only one railroad (which was constantly destroyed by Union soldiers) and the Union was cutting off most of their trade routes. The war left the south with a 9000% inflation, destroyed railroads, and burned cities all over the place. For some Confederate soldiers who lived through the war, they had nothing left except pain and hardships to go back to.