The Reconstruction

The Civil War left the South almost entirely destroyed and demoralized, its institutions overthrown and its economy pulverized. Into this scene came the Northern commissioners to re-establish order. What came of their efforts, and those of the Southerners to control their own destiny, produced the savage era known as the Reconstruction. In this book, Professor Shenton has collected the most significant and revealing documents of the period, allowing the participants in that great drama to tell the story of their experiences in their own words. The selections include material from sources never before made available, such as Congressional reports of conditions in the South and comments to contemporary observers.