Reconstruction (1865 – 1877)

The Challenges of Reconstruction

• Identify the nation’s goals for Reconstruction.
• How did the Presidential and Congressional plans differ? Why?
• Explain the major components of Congressional Reconstruction.
• Discuss the role of the Freedman’s Bureau? Was it successful?
• Explain the main provisions of the Reconstruction amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

African-Americans and Reconstruction

• To what extent did Reconstruction benefit African-Americans in the South?
• Discuss the advances they made in politics, education, and economics.
• Identify the challenges they continued to face from many white Southerners.
• Discuss the accomplishments and challenges of the Reconstruction governments in the South.

The End of Reconstruction

• Identify reasons for waning Northern interest in Reconstruction in the 1870s.
• Discuss the challenges facing the Grant Administration.
• Discuss the terms of the Compromise of 1877.
• Compare the New South to the Old South. What, if anything, changed?
• Was Reconstruction a success or a failure? Why?

(Next unit: The Industrial Age)

Home