Reconstruction was expensive and time-consuming.
Most Americans were supportive of Reconstruction and believed that it was working well.
Even though slavery was no longer allowed, the new system of farming called "sharecropping" actually looked a lot like slavery.
In order to help the former slaves, many southern states passed laws that made sure all black men and women could own property, get an education, and have all the same rights as white men and women.
In order to show how much they hated Reconstruction, some white Americans created white supremacist groups like the KKK.
As time went on, Reconstruction was growing more and more violent.
One of the problems with Reconstruction was that black Americans proved that they were incapable of getting an education and holding public office.
The Reconstruction Amendments were removed from the Constitution as soon as Reconstruction ended.
Once you get certain rights, you will always have them and they can never be taken away from you.
The time period immediately following the collapse of Reconstruction was known as the Jim Crow Era.
The time period immediately following Reconstruction was known for its racial harmony, where people of all races got along and were included together in the same activities.
If a black person did not follow the social expectations set by white people, they could be subject to a punishment known as lynching.
Lynching was most often conducted by police forces in very private settings.
Even though some rights were taken away from black men, the one right that the government made sure all black men had no matter what was the right to vote.
In convict leasing, the government could force prisoners to work without paying them.
Some states required people to pay taxes or pass literacy tests before they could vote.
The Supreme Court case Plessy v Ferguson said that all facilities in the U.S. (from schools to restaurants to trains) had to allow both black people and white people to attend together.
The U.S. allowed a "separate but equal" policy until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s.
The U.S. was the only country in the world to enact racist policies in the late 1800s.
By the late 1800s, German people were targeting Jews, a situation that would ultimately lead to the Holocaust.