Reconstruction (may 9, 1865 – mar 31, 1877)

Description:

The period of ~12 years after the Civil War ends, known as Reconstruction, were at first characterized by radical Northern abolitionists working hard to get the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments passed, which were designed to give blacks equaity to whites under the law. During this first part of Reconstruction known as Radical Reconstruction, blacks received representation in the government for the first time, winning election to Southern state legislatures and even the U.S. Congress. However, as Northern resolve waned towards the end of reconstruction, Southerners responded by creating Jim Crow laws (laws designed to keep blacks as close to slavery as legally possible) and supporting or joining the Ku Klux Klan, a hate group that worked to suppress blacks in society, especially by keeping them from voting and exercising other rights. (Change: blacks represented in government for the first time) (Continuity: white Southern treatment of blacks, which is as bad as they legally can) (Effect: continued racial injustice in the South even with the 13-15th amendments)

Added to timeline:

Date: