Reconstruction, the period that followed the Civil War, is perhaps the most controversial era in American history. Reconstruction witnessed major changes in America's political life. At the national level, new laws and constitutional amendments permanently altered the federal system and the nature of American citizenship. In the South, a politically mobilized black community joined with white allies to bring the Republican Party to power and with it an interpretation of the purposes and responsibilities of …showed first 75 words of 710 total…

…showed last 75 words of 710 total…people also think that Congress's plans were of importance too. I do believe that by revising the Black Codes that Congress tore down all that abolitionists have worked so hard to accomplish- equality of blacks and whites. Long into the twentieth century, the South would remain the nation's foremost economic problem - a legacy not only of slavery, but also of the social and economic changes that began during Reconstruction, and of Reconstruction's political failure.