Introduction to Chapter 16

16

RECONSTRUCTION

1863–1877 [[LP PHOTO: P16.01“THIS IS A WHITE MAN’S GOVERNMENT” (1868) / ROA_04224_16_P01.JPG]]

> What were the achievements and failures of Reconstruction? Chapter 16 explores the era of Reconstruction, in which the nation struggled to define the defeated South’s status and the meaning of freedom for ex-slaves. Following the Civil War, the nation entered one of its most confused and violent periods as victorious Northerners, defeated white Southerners, and newly freed African Americans battled to shape the postwar South.

image
Detail of “This is a white man’s government” (1868).
Library of Congress, 3c21735.