Question

Please tell me what reconstruction was. Why was there a need to have reconstruction and why wasit so hard for people to agree on what plan should be implemented?

Answer 1

"Reconstruction" was the name given to the period following the victory of the North in the American Civil War. The problem was that the North hadn't exactly conquered a foreign land, as when the US conquered a portion of Mexico in the Mexican-American War. If that *had* been the case, then it would be expected that Americans would have emigrated into the conquered territory, formed new states, applied for admission to the Union, et cetera -- just as actually happened after the Mexican-American War.

But in this case, the territory conquered used to actually be part of the United States, and states were already organized, and so forth. The question was: how to reconstruct the country? How to build the United States back into one country, with the Southern states back in the Union?

There were many possibilities: the hardest-line thinkers thought that the South *should* be treated like conquered territory. That is, all the old states (South Carolina, Virginia, Texas) had ceased to exist, and all of the South was now just unorganized territory, which should be directly ruled by Congress. The people in this territory could organize themselves into new states, and apply for admission to the Union.

But many others felt this went too far, and would make it impossible to reconcile Southerners to rejoining the Union. At the other extreme, there were those who wanted the Southern states to simply become part of the nation immediately, as they were, with the same leaders. So that, for example, Virginia should once again have its delegation seated in Congress, be able to vote for President, and so forth, all with the same leaders it had when it seceded.

But many felt that was far too forgiving. If the crisis was not to be repeated, then clearly there had to be consequences for the rebellion. Even if the states retained their name and territory, surely the Confederate leaders had to be purged from leadership posts, and new constitutions written that, for example, guaranteed the civil rights of blacks.

Reconstruction was the process of coming up with the procedure, and the ultimate idea (largely Lincoln's and Grant's) was an intermediate course, where states would retain their name and shape -- there would still be the same old Virginia and Alabama -- but that they had to write new constitutions, guaranteed civil rights to blacks, had to purge Confederate leaders, and would lose their right to be seated in Congress and vote in national elections for a time, and until after conditions for re-admission to the Union had been met.

Unfortunately, Reconstruction was a big, big project, and the North lost patience and ran out of money and energy long before it was completed, so it ended rather chaotically and abruptly with the election of Rutherford Hayes, and as a consequence not all of its lofty goals (e.g. equal treatment of blacks) was achieved.