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Reconstruction

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Generally dating from 1865 to 1877, Reconstruction is the term describing the period of readjustment following the American Civil War. The term is instructive on many levels. Physically, the destruction wrought in the South by the invading Union forces was enormous and there was little local financing for rebuilding. Socially, chaos reigned in the South: the old social and economic order founded on slavery had collapsed completely, with nothing to replace it. Nationally, the eleven Confederate states somehow had to be restored to their positions in the Union, provided with loyal governments, but without allowing Northerners to feel that the war had been for nothing. Finally, the role of the emancipated slaves in Southern society had to be defined. In sum, a region, but also a nation, demanded reconstruction in 1865. Even before the war ended, President Abraham Lincoln had begun the task. Motivated by a desire to build a strong Republican Party in the South and to end the bitterness…
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Full text Article Amendments, Reconstruction

From Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World
A contemporary illustration in Harper’s Weekly...
At the conclusion of the U.S. Civil War, three amendments to the U.S. Constitution were passed that pertained directly to slavery and African American civil rights. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments outlawed slavery, granted citizenship to blacks, and guaranteed African Americans…
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World
Because blacks greatly outnumbered whites in the...
The term Reconstruction refers to the period in American history immediately following the U.S. Civil War—from 1867 to 1877—during which efforts were made to assist former slaves as they made the transition from slavery to freedom. In spite of federal legislative initiatives and three new…
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From The Great American History Fact-Finder
Period following the Civil War dominated by controversies over restoring the Union, aiding the former slaves, and rebuilding the devastated South. The Civil War left the South in physical, social, and economic ruin. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln offered the Ten Percent Plan for readmitting the…
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From Philip's Encyclopedia
In US history, the process of restoring the former Confederate states to the Union after the Civil War . It was the cause of fierce controversy within Congress. The relatively pro-Southern approach of President Andrew Johnson led to his impeachment, which failed by one vote. The Republicans were…
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections
1865–1877 Reconstruction refers to the period immediately following the Civil War in which attempts were made to politically, economically, and socially “reconstruct” the Union and the 11 defeated ex-Confederate states. The era was marked by horrific racial violence, widespread southern poverty, and…
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From Encyclopedia of African-American Politics
One of the most important results of...
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Full text Article RECONSTRUCTION

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History
“Reconstruction” describes the attempt both to rebuild and reform the South politically, economically, and socially after the Civil War and to refashion race relations throughout the nation. Historians of the era have debated Reconstruction's periodization—that is, when it began and ended, from…
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1865–77, in U.S. history, the period of readjustment following the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War , the defeated South was a ruined land. The physical destruction wrought by the invading Union forces was enormous, and the old social and economic order founded on slavery had collapsed…
| 1,919 words
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Full text Article Reconstruction

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
An Au-gust Convention. 1866. Prints and...
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Full text Article RECONSTRUCTION

From The Reader's Companion to American History
Reconstruction, the period that followed the Civil War, is perhaps the most controversial era in American history. Traditionally portrayed as a sordid time when vindictive Radical Republicans fastened black supremacy upon the defeated Confederacy, Reconstruction has come to be viewed more…
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