Rebuilding the Union

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What happened after the Civil War? The Reconstruction era, lasting from 1865 to 1877, was the period when the US federal government sought to reunite the nation after the Civil War. Key issues included how to punish Confederates, readmit Southern states, and secure rights for newly freed Black Americans (read Lincoln's original plan).   Following Abraham Lincoln's assassination days after the war's end, President Andrew Johnson—a pro-Union, pro-states' rights Southerner—pursued a lenient approach to reconciliation. He pardoned former Confederates, restored their property, and allowed Southern states to govern with little federal oversight. Those states quickly enacted laws restricting the freedoms of formerly enslaved people, while groups such as the Ku Klux Klan targeted Black communities and leaders with violence.   In response, Congress defied Johnson's resistance—even impeaching him—and passed the Reconstruction Acts, which imposed military rule in the South and required new state constitutions guaranteeing civil rights and Black male suffrage. This ushered in a brief period of Black political participation in the South.   However, following the contested presidential election of 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew federal troops, effectively ending Reconstruction and allowing Southern Democrats to reestablish a racial hierarchy through Jim Crow laws.   ... Read our full write-up on the period here.   Also, check out ...  > How the Freedmen's Bureau was built to help former slaves after the Civil War. (Read) > Thousands of Black men held local, state, and federal offices during Reconstruction. (Watch) | Listen to their stories. (Listen) > Southern Black Codes sought to preserve prewar racial labor structures. (Read) > The Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution aimed to rebuild the nation and secure freedom for former slaves. (Read)