Reconstruction From 1865 To 1877

The Reconstruction took place from 1865 to 1877, it followed the American Civil War. The reconstructions purpose was to address the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and also to solve the problems arising from the readmission of the Union. Reconstruction created new laws and constitutional amendments that changed the criteria of American citizenship. In the South, a politically mobilized black community joined with white allies to bring the Republican Party to power, and with it a redefinition of the responsibilities of government.
The national debate over Reconstruction began during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln announced his comprehensive plan for Reconstruction, the Ten Percent Plan. Lincoln’s plan was known as the 10% Plan. It was simple. With a few exceptions, Lincoln offered pardons to any Confederate who swore allegiance to the Union and the Constitution.The

Three groups made up Southern Republicanism. Carpetbaggers also are known as recent arrivals from the North, were former Union soldiers, teachers, Freedmen’s Bureau agents, and businessmen. The second large group, scalawags, or native-born white Republicans, included some businessmen and planters, but most were nonslaveholding small farmers from the Southern up-country. Loyal to the Union during the Civil War, they saw the Republican Party as a means of keeping Confederates from regaining power in the South. The political revolution of Reconstruction spawned increasingly violent opposition from white Southerners. White supremacist organizations that committed terrorist acts, such as the Ku Klux Klan, targeted local Republican leaders for beatings or assassination. African Americans who asserted their rights in dealings with white employers, teachers, ministers, and others seeking to assist the former slaves also became