After the civil war ended in 1865, the southern states faced many punishments and rough after effects. This period after the war which the south faced rebuilding their economy was known as Reconstruction. One punishment that the South faced was being divided into 5 military districts, in which the Union army occupied. Each military district was occupied and under control of a different Union army Commanding general. Because each state in the south had seceded from the Union, each state was forced to apply to be readmitted into the Union. This was not very difficult, but losing the civil war required them to rejoin the Union. The next punishment was more of an effect of the war than a punishment, Reconstruction. Because a majority of the battles of the civil war took place in the Southern states, they had much to rebuild. Out of the 300 cities and towns in the Southern states, over 150 were occupied by the Union Army and eleven were harshly damaged or destroyed. Those eleven cities housed over 100,000 people, leaving the Southern states in complete economic ruin. Perhaps the most devastating punishment was the abolition of slavery. A workforce of millions that once was basically free, now is required to be paid. Plantations were without workers, and were left to rent out farms to newly freedmen. Some plantations maintained their farm, but were barely able to pay for the workers. The once booming south had turned into a struggling, unthriving region. The North had only a handful of battles in their territory so Northerners did not feel the economic problems.