Introduction: After a bloody Civil War, Americans fight
about how to rebuild the nation.

Chaos: Southern planters and liberated slaves are thrown
into chaos as Union victory nears.

Revolution on the Land: The Federal government allots
abandoned plantation acreage to freed slaves as
Southern whites face defeat.

Uncertainty: After President Lincoln's assassination,
Andrew Johnson takes office amid deep uncertainty.

Cultivating Liberty: Activist Tunis Campbell and former
slaves start self-sufficient lives in Georgia.

Freedmen's Bureau Agent: Union veteran Marshall
Twitchell moves to an isolated, battle-hardened
Confederate district.

"White Men Alone": President Johnson plans to restore
the Union quickly with few changes to the social order.

An Independent Black Community: Tunis Campbell's
black settlement establishes schools and bans
whites from the island.

Losses and Reconciliation: As Southerners return home
to catastrophic losses, the president pardons planters
and returns their lands.

Slavery Without the Chain: To rebuild their cotton
economy, Southern whites force black submission.

Opportunity: Yankee Marshall Twitchell and Southerner
Adele Coleman marry, over her family's objections.

War in Congress: Deep rifts divide Washington as
Congress passes the first law to protect civil rights.

Radical Reconstruction: Shocked by Southern violence,
Northerners support military governance and black
suffrage.

Citizens at Last: White Southerners' sense of injustice
and fear of vengeance grow as black men obtain the vote.

Introduction: As Abraham Lincoln warned, Reconstruction
is a task "fraught with great difficulty."

Interracial Democracy: Black suffrage is imposed in the
South, though blacks cannot vote in many Northern states.

Sharecropping: Landowner Fan Butler negotiates new
labor arrangements with her former slaves.

Carpetbagger: Southerners start to view Northerners like
Marshall Twitchell with suspicion.

"Let Us Have Peace.": As racial conflicts continue, Ulysses
Grant gains the presidency by promising reconciliation.

The New Order of Things: Republican legislators like
former slave John Lynch introduce new services -- and
new taxes.

War of Terror: Secret groups like the Ku Klux Klan form
to attack black political power with violence.

Seeking Profit: Southern whites and blacks struggle to
gain political power and forge a workable economy.

A New South: The Federal government cracks down on
violence, and Grant's re-election promises more change.

The Lost Cause: The nation loses patience for the plight
of Southern blacks as whites take back power.

The Coushatta Massacre: President Grant makes an
unpopular decision to send troops South to suppress
an insurrection.

Ideals and Intimidation: Congress passes a visionary
civil rights bill, but Southern vigilantes continue their
violence.

At War: White vigilantes in Coushatta, Louisiana try
to kill Marshall Twitchell.

Secret Compromise: The North abandons Reconstruction
in a secret political deal.

Looking Back: By 1913, Reconstruction is widely viewed
as a mistake, though its progressive legacy will endure.

Introduction: After a bloody Civil War, Americans fight about how to rebuild the nation.