Violence and Intimidation
(1866)
Southern whites use restrictive laws and murder to compel black submission. (3:27)
An Unacceptable Injustice
(Spring 1867)
Southern whites, like Kate Stone, see black equality as a perversion. (1:48)
War of Terror
(Fall 1869)
Secret groups like the Ku Klux Klan attack black political power with violence. (4:04)
Federal Intervention
(Fall 1871)
A Congressional investigation of Southern violence prompts President Grant to crack down on the Ku Klux Klan. (2:57)
Lost Civilization
(Fall 1873)
As stories of black corruption and a severe economic depression grip the nation, white Northerners begin to sympathize with the white South. (5:44)
The Coushatta Massacre
(Fall 1874)
President Grant makes an unpopular decision to send troops South to suppress an insurrection. (8:01)
The End of Reconstruction
(Spring 1877)
Republicans agree to abandon Reconstruction in a back-room political deal. (2:20)