Reconstruction 101

Reconstruction (1865-1877) was the post-Civil War period when the U.S. Constitution was fundamentally transformed through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which ended slavery, established citizenship and equal protection, and protected voting rights regardless of race. During this period, Southern states were required to reconstruct themselves with new constitutions, allowing Black men to vote and participate in government, leading to unprecedented Black political power at state and federal levels. However, this progress was dismantled by the 1877 Compromise, which ended Reconstruction and returned white supremacist control to the South, effectively nullifying the 15th Amendment until the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The speaker argues that true reconstruction requires first abolishing colonialism, imperialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy, and that this process must be internationalist and grounded in transnational solidarities.