Reconstruction

The Reconstruction period (1865–1877) was an attempt to rebuild the country and restore unity to the United States of America following the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). More importantly, it was a period when white Americans began to recognize the civil and political rights of emancipated African Americans. Though much of the Reconstruction's progress was reversed during the following century, it demonstrated the potential for momentum in the extension of civil rights and equality to all U.S. citizens.

Emancipation and the abolition of slavery were key outcomes prompted by the Union victory in the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). In the American South, slavery was one of the foundations of the political power and economy of the Confederate States. The strains of...