In examining Reconstruction from 1863 to 1877, what conclusions can be drawn? a. It revitalized the Southern economy, which overshadowed northern and western economies in the decades to come.
b. Ensured equal rights for African-Americans, which continued to increase after 1877.
c. It failed to protect the long-term political and civil rights of African Americans, but did have the significant effect of ending slavery, and ensuring black families could not be forcibly separated.
d. Did little to really change the white supremacy of southern society, which resulted in legal segregation within a few decades of the end of Reconstruction.
e. It was a total failure and left no blueprint for the future.
f. Offered new economic opportunities for some former slaves (teachers, industrial workers, acquiring land in the west, joining the military), but share cropping kept the majority of former slaves in a cycle of debt.
g. The United States had become a declining world power in regard to trade.
h. It necessitated a "Second Reconstruction" in the 1960s to fulfill the promises of civil rights for African Americans.