What was Reconstruction?

Andrew Johnson was the only Southern Senator to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War. As a reward, the pro-war Southern Democrat was appointed as military governor of Tennessee, and later asked to join Abraham Lincoln's ticket as vice-presidential candidate. read more

During Radical Reconstruction, which began in 1867, newly enfranchised blacks gained a voice in government for the first time in American history, winning election to southern state legislatures and even to the U.S. Congress. read more

The Reconstruction era was the period from 1863 (the Presidential Proclamation of December 8, 1863) to 1877. read more