The Reconstruction era was a period in United States history following the American Civil War, dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of abolishing slavery and reintegrating the former Confederate States of America into the United States. During this period, three amendments were added to the United States Constitution to grant equal civil rights to the newly freed slaves. Despite this, former Confederate states often used poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation to control people of color.
The distribution of wealth per capita in 1872, illustrating the disparity between North and South in that period
The Southern economy had been ruined by the war. Charleston, South Carolina: Broad Street, 1865
A political cartoon of Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln, 1865, entitled "The Rail Splitter At Work Repairing the Union". The caption reads (Johnson): "Take it quietly Uncle Abe and I will draw it closer than ever." (Lincoln): "A few more stitches Andy and the good old Union will be mended."
Monument in honor of the Grand Army of the Republic, organized after the war
History of the United States
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely populated lifestyles and towards reorganized polities elsewhere. The European colonization of the Americas began in the late 15th century, although most colonies in what would later become the United States were settled after the year 1600.
Monks Mound of Cahokia (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in summer
Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The K'alyaan Totem pole of the Tlingit Kiks.ádi Clan, erected at Sitka National Historical Park to commemorate the lives lost in the 1804 Battle of Sitka
The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, fluyts, caravels and carracks brought the first Europeans to the Americas.