Author: Patrick Young
13th Amendment Documents and Commentary
On December 15, 1865 Sec. of State William Seward announced that the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery had been ratified and that it was now the…
When There Was Opposition to the National Park Service Doing Reconstruction History It Came from Sons of Confederate Veterans
Now that the National Park Service is in the fourth year of its work on the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort, SC, it can…
Pres. Andrew Johnson’s “Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction” May 1865
President Andrew Johnson issued his “Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction,” on May 29, 1865. This proclamation would have a major impact on the South, Confederate…
Videos and Other Resources for Understanding the History of the 13th Amendment Ending Slavery
The 13th Amendment was one of the subjects of the film Lincoln, but the amendment was not ratified until half-a-year after the president’s death. In…
O.O. Howard Appointed Head of Freedmen’s Bureau May 1865
Although many historians now date the start of Reconstruction to the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 or even earlier, the creation of the Freedman’s…
A Mississippi Judge Explains the Need for White Domination of the South
We are tempted to imagine that white supremacist propaganda was always presented in the non-standard English of the barely literate. That was not true. Many…
Welcome to The Reconstruction Era Blog
This site is the outgrowth of six years of studying The Reconstruction Era. For several years I hosted a forum on the popular Civil War…