Reconstruction offered hope after the Civil War, but dreams of true freedom for Black Americans collided with violent white supremacy, economic exploitation, and political betrayal. From Radical Republicans to Black Codes, lynchings, and the rise of Jim Crow, we trace how progress was crushed—but also how Black communities built foundations in education and political life that endured. How different could history have been?

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R. B. Hayes Presidential Library | RBHayes.org

Corporations, Corruption, and the Modern Lobby: A Gilded Age Story of the West and the South in Washington, D.C. | SouthernSpaces.org

Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview | National Archives

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Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era | New Georgia Encyclopedia

Primary Source: Black Codes in North Carolina, 1866 | NCpedia

Radical Republicans | Wikipedia

Reconstruction - Women & the American Story | NYHistory.org

Reconstruction era | Wikipedia

Reconstruction in America | Equal Justice Initiative