Reconstruction is a period in the United States of America that came immediately after the American Civil War. It is the time in which attempts were made to readmit the 11 Southern States that seceded at the war outbreak. Its main aim was to rebuild America; Abraham Lincoln mainly championed it between 1865 and 1877 (Banks, 1995) . This paper explores the reconstruction era in the United States of America.
Reconstruction
During the reconstruction period, it was a convictable crime to enforce slavery or involuntary service. Persons born or naturalized in the United States were automatically recognized as citizens of their states of residence. They were thereof, not to be put under any law that would deprive them of privileges of a United States citizen (Banks, 2020). They were to benefit the rights of life, liberty or property fully. They were also to enjoy protection by the law.
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Being free for the formerly enslaved persons entailed an end to whip, giving out family members for sale and release from white masters. Freedom was accompanied by equal opportunities as well as full rights of citizenship. Receiving wages for the freed slaves was also a prerogative, for the males; they got an opportunity to cast their votes too (Banks, 2020).
Reconstruction was a success since it finally gave a solution to the debate between states' right and federalism that had been a parley since the 1790s, it also reinstated the unity of the United States. Around 1877, the former confederate states drafted a new constitution and recognized the Thirteen, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments, which enabled African-Americans to attain their full rights in the 20 th Century, giving an assurance of their loyalty to the government of the United States (Banks, 1995).
References
Banks, J. A. (1995). The historical reconstruction of knowledge about race: Implications for transformative teaching. Educational Researcher , 24 (2), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x024002015
Banks, J. A. (2020). The historical reconstruction of knowledge about race. Diversity, Transformative Knowledge, and Civic Education , 41-63. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003018360-2
