Any honest historian (there are some) would agree that the era of Reconstruction from 1866 to 1877 is the most complicated in US history and the one that defies any simple analysis. There are so many conflicts and were multi causal in nation. There is no simple narrative of good versus evil that is beloved by Americans.
well said
In a real sense, the “nation” ceased to exist once the Southern secessions began. Yet, the “nation” continued to act, as it were, and then tried to “reassemble” (it’s difficult to say what exactly, legally speaking, the returning states were...). Are the states readmitted with the same rights they had before? It’s all very complicated.
And out of that rose the constitutional revolution that is the post-civil war amendments.
among other things