In the history of the United States , the term
Reconstruction Era has two senses : the first covers the complete history of
the entire U.S. from 1865 to 1877 following the Civil War , the second sense
focuses on the transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877 ,
as directed by Washington , with the reconstruction of state and society.
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| Reconstruction Era |
Reconstruction addressed how the eleven seceding states
would regain self-government and be reseated in Congress , the civil status of
the former leaders of the Confederacy ,
and the Constitutional and legal status of freedmen , especially their civil
rights and whether they should be given the right to vote.
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| Voting for the first time in 1867 |
Reconstruction policies were implemented when a Confederate state came under the
control of the Union Army. President Abraham Lincoln set up reconstructed
governments in several southern states during the war , including Tennessee ,
Arkansas , and Louisiana. He experimented with giving land to former slaves in
South Carolina. Following Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865 , President
Andrew Johnson tried to follow Lincoln’s policies and appointed new governors
in the summer of 1865. Johnson quickly declared that the war goals of national
unity and the ending of slavery had been achieved , so that reconstruction was
completed. A sweeping Republican victory in the 1866 Congressional elections in
the North gave the Radical Republicans enough control of Congress to override
Johnson’s vetoes and began what is called “Radical Reeconstruction” in 1867.
Congress removed civilian governments in the South in 1867 and put the former
Confederacy under the rule of the U.S. Army. The army conducted new elections
in which the freed slaves could vote , while whites who had held leading
positions under the Confederacy were temporarily denied the vote and were not
permitted to run for office.
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| Radical Reeconstruction in 1867 |
They introduced various reconstruction programs , including
the founding of public schools in most states for the first time , and the
establishment of charitable institutions. They raised taxes, which historically
had been low as planters preferred to make private investments for their own
purposes , offered massive aid to support railroads to improve transportation
and shipping .With the Compromise of 1877 , Army intervention in the South
ceased and Republican control collapsed in the last three state governments in
the South.
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| Reconstruction Era 1877 |
