Virginia lost population. In 1860 there were 1,596,000 people in the Old Dominion, while in 1870 there were only 1,225,000. South Carolina barely escaped losing population in the war and the five years that followed: the Palmetto State went from a population of 703,000 to 705,000. Missouri suffered greatly during the war as a result of the bitter partisan feelings and actions, but the Show-Me State increased from 1,182,000 to 1,721,000.

There were many, even most, states in the winners column, but none expanded with the same incredible vitality that had been seen between 1850 and 1860. New York State, for example, went from 3,880,000 persons to 4,382,000 between 1860 and 1870. Pennsylvania increased from 2,906,000 to 3,521,000. The biggest winner in relative, as opposed to absolute, terms was California. Spared the effects of the Civil War, the Golden State’s population increased from 379,000 to 560,000.