At the beginning of the war there were two main political parties in the state, the Whigs and the Democrats. Both parties retained a good base of power in the state at the time. With North Carolina leaving the Union in May of 1861, the government would obviously change, but neither of the parties gained any political advantage by the succession. Both parties clearly believed that leaving the union was in the best interest of the state. After the war, the Confederate states were required to offer their oaths of loyalty in order to rejoin the Union. North Carolina was one of the first of the southern states to rejoin the Union after the war and with the help of the government was able to start rebuilding. While the state did struggle, physical reconstruction was generally