The Reconstruction era, often simply called Reconstruction, was a period in United States history that followed the American Civil War and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges
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
The Ku Klux Klan, sometimes referred to as the Klan, is an American Protestant-led white supremacist and far-right hate group. Historians widely identify it as one of the earliest terrorist groups in
Reconstruction era
…who sought to restore white supremacy and reestablish Democratic Party control of Southern governments and society. Violent groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, White League, and Red Shirts, engaged in paramilitary insurgency and terrorism to disrupt Reconstruction governments and terrorize Republicans…
Depiction of Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina in 1870, based on a photograph taken under the supervision of a federal officer who seized Klan costumes
KKK rally near Chicago in the 1920s
The "Ku Klux Number" of Judge, August 16, 1924
A cartoon threatening that the KKK (represented by a Democratic donkey) will lynch scalawags (left) and carpetbaggers (right) on March 4, 1869, the day President Grant takes office. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Independent Monitor, September 1, 1868.