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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.
Credits
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