Reconstruction
Also known as: Reconstruction era
Reconstruction (1865–1877) was the period after the American Civil War when the federal government worked to rebuild the South, readmit the former Confederate states, and define the rights of newly freed African Americans.
Reconstruction was the era from 1865 to 1877 during which the United States confronted the aftermath of the Civil War: how to restore the defeated Confederate states to the Union and what freedom would mean for roughly four million formerly enslaved people. It produced three constitutional amendments — the 13th (abolishing slavery), the 14th (birthright citizenship and equal protection), and the 15th (voting rights regardless of race).
The period unfolded in phases. Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson offered lenient terms to former Confederates, and Southern states responded with Black Codes restricting freedpeople's rights. Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction answered with the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, dividing the South into military districts and requiring states to ratify the 14th Amendment for readmission. Institutions like the Freedmen's Bureau provided education, labor contracts, and relief, and African American men voted and held office across the South for the first time.
Reconstruction ultimately collapsed. White supremacist violence from groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Northern fatigue, economic depression, and the disputed election of 1876 led to the Compromise of 1877, which withdrew federal troops from the South. Sharecropping bound many Black families to the land economically, and Jim Crow segregation and disenfranchisement followed — making Reconstruction's promise of equality a project left unfinished for nearly a century.
The AP US History exam treats Reconstruction as a cornerstone of Period 5, testing the Reconstruction amendments, the fight between Johnson and the Radical Republicans, and the causes and consequences of Reconstruction's failure.
Key takeaways
- Reconstruction (1865–1877) rebuilt the Union after the Civil War and defined the legal status of freed African Americans.
- The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments abolished slavery, established citizenship and equal protection, and protected Black male suffrage.
- Congressional Reconstruction imposed military districts and readmission conditions after lenient Presidential Reconstruction failed.
- The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction, opening the way for sharecropping, Jim Crow laws, and disenfranchisement.
- AP US History tests the phases of Reconstruction, the amendments, and the reasons the era's gains were rolled back.