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American Experience
1988
Published on, 1 month ago
American Experience
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War (1): Revolution 16 Season 2 Episode
55 min
1988
6.6
"Reconstruction: The Second Civil War," a two-part report, follows political leaders and ordinary Americans alike as it chronicles one of the most contentious periods in American history. "An old social order had been destroyed," says Columbia University historian Eric Foner. "Everything was up for grabs." Part 1 begins with the end of the war, as President Johnson, no friend of the freed slaves, squares off against Republicans in Congress. In 1868 they pass the 14th Amendment, which is "the origin of the concept of civil rights," Foner notes. Johnson vetoed it and, says narrator Dion Graham, "the lines were drawn."
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