The Civil War left America in a state of disarray, with over 600,000 casualties of the war and the South founds itself in social and economical ruin. The following twelve years, from 1865 to 1877, even though one may argue that Reconstruction for the South started as early as 1863 with the Emancipation proclamation, marked an era of reconstruction that contained many challenges: first, the reunification of this divided nation, second the conversion of the South, whose economy relied entirely on slavery and finally the integration of the emancipated slaves, culturally as well as politically. It was a time of transition from a belligerent conflict between the North and the South to a political one and a time of many changes. We may thus wonder to what extent the Reconstruction Era was a rupture in American history and paved the way to a unified nation? My argumentation will consequently fall in two parts: on the one hand I will demonstrate that the Reconstruction Era marks the end of a time and then I will show that the reconstruction is far from fulfilling its ambitions. The Reconstruction Era brought many revolutions in the South, the American legislation and former slaves ' rights, making it a real rupture in American history. The Reconstruction had also to be literal and start with the South, whose lands are devastated, and with its resulting fallen economy. After the war, the Confederacy was ravaged, its cities looted, its railroads gone and its farm fields destroyed.