Introduction to Chapter 16
16
RECONSTRUCTION
1863–1877 [[LP PHOTO: P16.01“THIS IS A WHITE MAN’S GOVERNMENT” (1868) /
> 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.
> Why did Congress object to Lincoln’s wartime plan for reconstruction?
> How did the North respond to the passage of black codes in the southern states?
> How radical was congressional reconstruction?
> What brought the elements of the South’s Republican coalition together?
> Why did Reconstruction collapse?
> Conclusion: Was Reconstruction “a revolution but half accomplished”?
Understanding the American Promise 3ePrinted Page 438