(When Reconstruction briefly worked)
Purpose:
Prove that a different future was genuinely possible.
Chapter: When Reconstruction Worked
Focus:
- Black voter registration and turnout
- Black officeholders exercising authority
- Functioning multiracial state governments
- Federal enforcement producing real outcomes
- Schools, courts, and civic institutions taking root
Key point:
Reconstruction was not merely aspirational — it functioned.
Chapter: What Settlement Would Have Required
Focus:
- Sustained federal enforcement
- Protection of political participation
- Economic foundations for citizenship
- Institutional commitment beyond emergency
What this part demands of the nation:
A willingness to enforce a new order.
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