What is Reconstruction? Reconstruction was the restoration of the seceded states and the integration of the freedmen into American society during and especially after the Civil War. (1865-1877) Most people believe that reconstruction started and ended at the same time in all states, but in reality different Southern states had a different start and end time of reconstruction phase. Union imposed the reconstruction policies as and when a particular state was seized from the Confederate control.Reconstruction was concerned with the re-inclusion of former Confederate states into union, safeguarding the civil rights of freed slaves, fate of former Confederate officials and their civil status and the issue of according suffrage to these freed men. President Abraham Lincoln had announced ‘Emancipation’ in 1863 to weaken the Confederate war effort and achieve the aim of abolishing slavery. Starting from 1863, Lincoln took critical steps to reconstruct the Southern society by installing reconstructed governments in captured Confederate states that …show more content…
However, he followed a much more moderate policy and allowed former Confederate officials to enter important government posts and Congress. He also pardoned many war criminals and did not carry out many war crime trials. He also did not forcefully pursue the agenda of societal reforms regarding race equality in Southern states and many Southern states enforced black codes that put freed black slaves at a much lower pedestal in society. His soft stance on these issues was viewed very negatively by Northerners who were already angry over Lincoln’s assassination at the hands of a Confederate apologist. He was vehemently opposed by radical Republicans in Congress. He however, vetoed many of the sterner legislations brought forward by the radical