Reconstruction

Reconstruction, 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 completely, with nothing to replace it. The 11 Confederate states somehow had to be restored to their positions in the Union and provided with loyal governments, and the role of the emancipated slaves in Southern society had to be defined.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Lincoln's Plan
• Johnson's Plan
• Early Congressional Legislation
• The Reconstruction Acts
• The Radical Republican Governments in the South
• Reconstruction's End
• Bibliography and Historical Interpretation

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History