This masterful treatment of one of the most complex periods of American history made history when it was originally published in 1988. It redefined how
Reconstruction was viewed by historians and people everywhere in its chronicling of how Americans -- black and white -- responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the war and the end of
slavery. This smart book of enormous strengths has since gone on to become the classic work on the wrenching
post-Civil War period -- an era whose legacy reverberates still today in the United States.
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Background Information
Plans for the reconstruction of the rebellious states varied from mild reformation to thorough change in politics and economics. American slaves were almost entirely African and formed the basis of the cotton economy of the South until the Civil War.
