Setting and Historical Context

Gone with the Wind takes place in the southern United States in the state of Georgia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877) that followed the war.

The novel unfolds against the backdrop of rebellion wherein seven southern states, Georgia among them, have declared their secession from the United States (the "Union") and formed the Confederate States of America (the "Confederacy").

A dispute over states' rights has arisen involving enslaved African people who were the source of manual labor on cotton plantations throughout the South.