The era known as Reconstruction is one of the unhappiest times in American history. It succeeded in reuniting the nation politically after the Civil War but in little else. Conflict shifted from the battlefield to the Capitol as Congress warred with President Andrew Johnson over just what to do with the South. Johnson's forgiving plan of Presidential Reconstruction, allowing repressive measures such as the "black codes," would ultimately lead to his impeachment and the institution of Radical Reconstruction. While this plan saw the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments, expanding the rights and suffrage of African Americans, it was largely unable to chart a progressive course for race relations after the abolition of slavery and the rise of Jim Crow. Reconstruction also struggled to successfully manage the Southern resistance towards a Northern, free-labor economy. However, these failures cannot obscure a number of notable accomplishments with decisive long-term consequences for American life, among them, the Civil Rights Act, the election of the first African American representatives to the Congress and the avoidance of renewed civil war. Reconstruction suffered from poor leadership and uncertainty of direction, but it also laid the groundwork for renewed struggles for racial equality during the civil rights movement.

In this concise history, award-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo delves into the constitutional, political, and social issues behind Reconstruction to provide a lucid and original account of a historical moment that left an indelible mark on the American social fabric.