As battlefields fell silent in 1865, the question of secession had been answered, and America was once again territorially united.  But, in many ways, the conclusion of the Civil War created more questions than answers. How would the nation ever become one again?  Who was responsible for rebuilding the South?  What role would African Americans occupy in this society? Northern and southern soldiers returned home with broken bodies, broken spirits, and broken minds. Plantation owners had land but not labor. Recently freed African Americans had their labor but no land. Former slaves faced a world of possibilities—legal marriage, reunited family members, employment, and fresh starts—but also a racist world of bitterness, violence, and limited opportunity. The war may have been over, but the battles for the peace were just beginning.