Reconstruction Era Essay

Readings:The Question: The Era of Reconstruction lasted from just over a decade, from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to 1877. This time period was an attempt to breathe life into the meaning of the Union’s victory in that conflict and to find a way to knit the shattered nation back together. Having emancipated the slaves, the country had to define what, exactly, freedom would mean. Having defeated the Confederacy the country had to decide when, how, and under what conditions to readmit formally the defeated southern states back into the Union. Southern state governments had to decide how to build new political coalitions and fashion new publics that had to grapple with defeat in war while working to define and then protect freedom.Your task here is to assess how well this era accomplished the monumental tasks set before it. How did the nation do in tackling all the problems laid at the feet of Reconstruction? Essential to answering this question well is to have a clear understanding of how you are defining and measuring “success” and “failure.”