American History 102: 1865-Present
Stanley K. Schultz and William P. Tishler
Topic 1
Reconstructing the Nation
Preamble

Identifications

  • Radical Republicans
  • Carl Schurz
  • Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
  • Wade-Davis Bill
  • Andrew Johnson
  • Thaddeus Stevens
  • Joint Committee of Fifteen
  • Reconstruction Acts of 1867
  • Charles Sumner
  • Freedman's Bureau
  • Civil Rights Act of 1866
  • The Birth of a Nation
  • Radical Reconstruction
  • Carpetbaggers
  • Scalawags
  • Henry Wirtz
  • The "Lost Cause"

America has been split apart by three major wars: in the 1770's the American Revolution; in the 1970's the Vietnam War; and, in the middle of this period, the Civil War. Each war has dramatically changed the generation engaged in battles as well as the generations that followed. This lecture will examine the repercussions of the Civil War, its effects on the American people, and the agreements and disagreements within the nation over the meanings of "Reconstruction."

INDEX

  1. Reconstructing the Nation
  2. What had the war done to the South?
  3. Four Theories of Reconstruction
  4. Who was a Radical?
  5. What were the realities of Reconstruction?
  6. How black was Black Reconstruction?

Supplemental web resources relating to today's lesson

Shove for a "Nation On the Brink": The Impact of Dred Scott

The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Report of the Joint Comittee on Reconstruction, June 20, 1866

The Wade-Davis Manifesto, August 5, 1864

Opposing Views on Reconstruction

"Reconstruction," by Frederick Douglass

Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

The Slagg Family of Wisconsin During the Civil War
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