The objective in Part 5 is to explore ways that the meaning of the conflict shifted in the years after the war ended, especially on questions related to the aftermath of emancipation and the abolition of slavery. Should the war’s legacy have included both race and reunion? Did freedom demand equality? These are the fundamental questions that figures such as Frederick Douglass debated and that students continue to examine in classrooms across America.
Featured Image: Altered Images from the End of War
Featured Document: Reconstruction Amendments
Handouts: Race and Reunion // Re-Framers of Constitution
Further Reading: Eric Foner on Reconstruction Amendments // EXHIBIT: America’s Reconstruction // HarpWeek on Impeachment
Guest GLI Lecture: David Blight on Race and Reunion (55 mins.)
Featured Student Video: From Carlisle to Andersonville (14 mins.)
Civil War Through American Art:
Winslow Homer, “A Visit from the Old Mistress,” (1876)