The Reconstruction (1866-1876) was the period after the [[American Civil War]] in which the former [[Confederacy]] was occupied by Northern troops. This was to ensure that the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] was carried out. Some equal rights were protected--for example, several African Americans were elected to Congress from this region--but this came to a rapid end when a stalemate in the [[ United States presidential election of 1876]] lead to the [[Comprimise of 1877]], which ended the occupation. Segregationist [[Jim Crow laws]] were passed, and the [[Ku Klux Klan]]'s influence increased greatly after the South was no longer under military supervision.
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The '''Reconstruction''' (1866-1876) was the period after the [[American Civil War]] during which the former [[Confederacy]] was occupied by Northern troops. In the view of the North, this was to ensure that the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] was carried out; in the view of the South, as illustrated in the movie ''[[Gone With the Wind]]'', some northern officers abused their power during their prolonged occupation of the South. The term [[carpetbaggers]] refers to northerners who migrated to South in order be elected to public office during the occupation.
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Equal rights based on race were promoted during this period -- for example, several African Americans were elected to Congress from the South. '''Reconstruction''' came to an end when a stalemate in the [[United States presidential election of 1876]] led to the [[Compromise of 1877]], which required the North to end its occupation.
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Segregationist [[Jim Crow laws]] were subsequently passed in the South, and the [[Ku Klux Klan]]'s racist influence continued into the 20th century.