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 "e;Union"e;) and formed the Confederate States of America (the "e;Confederacy"e;). A dispute over states' rights has arisen involving enslaved African people who were the source of manual labor on cotton plantations throughout the South.