What were the problems facing the American people after the end of the Civil War?

As the Civil War had been fought largely on Southern soil, the victorious North didn't need to engage in the task of rebuilding. In the South, however, it was a very different story. There, the entire economy had been devastated by war. The predominantly agrarian economy, once a source of immense prosperity, lay in ruins, with tens of thousands of acres of previously productive land no longer able to provide much-needed food supplies or cash crops, such as cotton.
Inevitably, this meant that for millions of Southerners, life was incredibly hard, with many finding it hard to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. Despite such dire circumstances, the federal government was neither willing nor able to help. The South, after all, had started the Civil War, and it seemed unreasonable to Northern public opinion that the government should be in the business of helping those who had engaged in treasonous rebellion against the Union.
To make matters worse, Southerners couldn't even rely on themselves to get back on their feet. During the Civil War, the Confederate government printed more than $800 million of currency, fueling rampant inflation. In the aftermath of the war, many found that their entire savings had been wiped out as a result, leaving them unable to provide for themselves and their families, much less invest in new businesses.