Emancipation and Reconstruction

Following the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, declaring all slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free. The Reconstruction period that followed aimed to rebuild the South and address the social and political changes brought about by the end of slavery, including the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. Despite these efforts, Reconstruction ultimately faced resistance and the promise of full equality for formerly enslaved individuals was not fully realized until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.