The American Civil War came to a close in 1865, when the Northern states defeated the Southern states that had left the Union several years before. The period just after the war, during which the country worked to rebuild itself, is known as Reconstruction. It lasted from 1865 to 1877. The main issues that Americans faced during these years were how to bring the Southern states back into the Union and how to help the nation's freed slaves start a new life. These issues and others led to much debate and disagreement, and Reconstruction became a time of conflict rather than cooperation.

Political battles

The first efforts to deal with the problem of readmitting the Southern states into the Union came during the Civil War itself. President Abraham Lincoln planned to readmit states in which as few as 10 percent of the voters pledged loyalty to the Union. When Lincoln was killed in April 1865—just days after the end of the war—Vice President Andrew Johnson became president. Johnson's plan for Reconstruction was to pardon, or forgive, most Southern leaders and make it easy for Southern states to reenter the Union.

Congress, in particular a group of members known as Radical Republicans, opposed Lincoln's and Johnson's Reconstruction plans. The lawmakers wanted to punish the South for leaving the Union and keep Southern leaders from returning to power. In the months following the war, they also criticized Johnson for failing to do more to help former slaves and protect their civil rights. The Southern states were passing laws known as black codes that kept blacks from voting and otherwise restricted their freedom.

After battling President Johnson for more than a year, Congress seized control of Reconstruction. The period that followed is known as Congressional Reconstruction, or Radical Reconstruction. In 1867 lawmakers passed the Reconstruction Acts even though Johnson tried to block them.

The acts put the South under military rule and removed most white Southern leaders from power. This left control of the Southern states in the hands of African Americans and whites loyal to the Union. Some of these whites were criticized by Southerners, who called them carpetbaggers. The term referred to the idea that they were Northerners who came to the South carrying only what they could put in a small bag and that they came to take advantage of the situation. Some white Southerners cooperated with the blacks and carpetbaggers. Other Southerners accused those who cooperated of doing so in order to further their own interests. They called them scalawags.

The Reconstruction Acts also required Southern states to ratify (approve) the 14th Amendment before they could reenter the Union. This amendment guaranteed the rights of citizenship to African Americans. By 1870 all Southern states had been accepted back into the Union.

During this time Congress also tried to remove President Johnson from office by impeaching him, or accusing him of wrongdoing. Johnson, however, was found not guilty of the charges against him and remained in office.

Freed blacks

As Congress and the president battled over Reconstruction policies, nearly 4 million former slaves tried to start a new life in the South. They were helped by the creation of a government agency called the Freedmen's Bureau. It provided medical care and food to freed blacks and built more than 1,000 schools for them. Many blacks took advantage of their newfound freedom by traveling in search of family members, seeking an education—and even running for political office. The 15th amendment, approved in 1870, gave blacks the right to vote for the first time. These new voters helped elect blacks to local and state offices throughout the South and to the U.S. Congress.

Despite these political and social gains, however, black Americans made little economic progress during Reconstruction. Most were unable to buy their own land. As a result, they ended up working for low wages in the same fields where they had toiled as slaves.

Reconstruction ends

During the 1870s Radical Reconstruction gradually fell apart. There were a number of reasons for its collapse. Some key Radical Republican leaders died, which weakened the group's influence. In addition, opponents of Reconstruction spread the idea that the new Southern governments were very corrupt (even though they were no worse than governments in other parts of the country). Plus, newly formed terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan used violence to keep most Southern blacks from voting or running for office. At the same time, many Northern leaders became more interested in doing business in the South than they were with helping freed blacks. As a result of all this, white Southerners who had been removed from power began to regain control of state governments.

The final blow to Reconstruction came with the presidential election of 1876. The vote was so close that both the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes and the Democrat Samuel J. Tilden claimed victory. To avoid a conflict, the two parties made a deal known as the Compromise of 1877. Under the plan the Republicans took the presidency but agreed to a number of demands from Democrats—the party to which most Southern leaders belonged. The most important of these demands was an end to military rule in the South. The removal of federal troops by Hayes marked the end of Northern control of the South—and of Reconstruction.