Civil War and Reconstruction

The Historic Documents in this set cover the Civil War and Reconstruction from 1861 to 1877.  During this period, Americans engaged in a bloody Civil War and debated how best to reconstruct the nation to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence. These debates culminated in our nation’s first civil rights laws and the ratification of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.  Many scholars refer to this period as America’s “Second Founding.