What was reconstruction during the Civil War?

Answer 1

"Reconstruction" referred to restoring the states that had seceded to their proper place in the Union. Various reconstruction plans were proposed and debated during and after the war. The discussion began almost immediately after secession. But only a little actual 'reconstruction' was attempted during the war - in places re-taken early in the war (esp in Louisiana).

The period of "Reconstruction" -- what the term is most often used to refer to -- is the time after the war, when Congress & the President were forced to deal with this issue for all the former Confederate states. It is generally broken into two stages. The first, "Presidential reconstruction" under Andrew Johnson, was extremely lenient, demanding very little of these states beyond repudiating their secession and war debts, and accepting the 13th amendment - ending slavery (this was Andrew Johnson's final approach). But "Radical Republicans" in Congress, were very unhappy with the failure of Johnson's plan in allowing former Confederate leaders to lead their states and represent them in Congress, and in not providing adequate preventions for the rights of the "freedmen" (recently freed slaves). With a strengthened Republican majority they were able to put in place --over Johnson's veto-- a new Congressional Reconstruction plan (often called "Radical Reconstruction") limiting the power of former Confederate leaders and increasing protections for blacks. It included a military presence to protect blacks and governments in the Southern states that included blacks and other Republicans against some local (often violent) opposition.

This second approach to Reconstruction continued into Grant's term, and had some successes. These included the 14th & 15th amendments, the defeat of the early form of the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups that killed and terrorized the freedmen, the election of many freedmen to political office in the South, and for the first time the requirement that states see to the education of black children.

But by 1876 economic woes (a depression beginning in 1872), fatigue with maintaining troops in the South, and various more subtle racist groups in the South (which succeeded in scaring many blacks and other Republicans away from the polls), had undercut the program till it could no longer be maintained in the few places still remaining under "Reconstruction governments", and even Grant (a big supporter of Radical Reconstruction) had begun to pull back and the Republican nominee to succeed him (R.B. Hayes) promised in his campaign that he would work to restore "local rule." (Hayes did, however, seek and receive assurances from Southern states that the rights of blacks, esp. to vote, would be honored. For a time they were, but eventually that, and many other Reconstruction gains for blacks were undercut.)

Answer 2

the period of rebuilding that followed the civil war during which the defeated Confederate states were readmitted into the union.

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Answer 3

The reconstruction of the south was when all the battles had ruined there property so they needed to fix it.

Answer 4

a terror forced upon the south where the northern opportunists tried to take every advantage of the devastated south, both monetarily, physically and emotionally.