Reconstruction was needed for this country to come back together after the Civil War. The north and the south had been divided and didn't know how to come back together again without intervention from the government. I believe that Reconstruction helped the African-Americans get some of the freedom that equally deserved. I also believe that Reconstruction helped the north and the south reunite as a country again. The Freedman's Bureau did it's best to educate and protect the former slaves. The U.S. Congress also tried it's hardest to fulfill the promises made to former slaves by passing 2 bills that had been vetoed by President Johnson. President Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction involved letting any rebel state take its place back in the Union as long as they met the conditions of the ten percent plan. They way the ten percent plan worked was they state had to have ten percent of the people who had voted in the 1860 election to take an oath. Once that state reached ten percent of the people taking oath, the state could form a state government. President Johnson's plan was based mostly the same as President Lincoln's except he didn't think that the southern states had ever been out of the Union, and there were to be no trials for treason. .
Ku Klux Clan - The KKK was created after the Civil War as means of rebelling against the Reconstruction plans and the plans to give the African-Americans equal rights. The KKK killed the freedman and their supporters. .
Tenure of Office Act - The Tenure of Office Act was set in place to prevent the U.S. president to remove civil officers without consent from the Senate. This was put into place by radical republicans mainly to prevent President Johnson from removing any of the cabinet members who supported the harsh Reconstruction policies of Congress. .
Election of 1876 - In the 1876 election Tilden was the winner when the votes were counted but in 3 states both parties claimed victory.