Cadatta: 53 thousand black people were murdered in the south in the three decades after the civil war. Ulysses grant, the former union general, was elected president in 18 68 and served two terms. He sent troops to several states to suppress clan violence and protect black voters at the poles. Looking back, maybe what's remarkable is that reconstruction happened at all, and that it lasted as long as it did.
After the Civil War, a surprising coalition tried to remake the United States into a real multiracial democracy for the first time. Reconstruction, as the effort was called, brought dramatic change to America. For a while.
Reported and produced by John Biewen, with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. The series script editor is Loretta Williams. Interviews with Victoria Smalls, Brent Morris, Eric Foner, Kidada Williams, Bobby Donaldson, and Edward Baptist.
Music by Algiers, John Erik Kaada, Eric Neveux, and Lucas Biewen. Music consulting and production help from Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.
Photo: Historian Bobby Donaldson of the University of South Carolina, at the South Carolina State House, Columbia, SC. Photo by John Biewen.