Summary
In the summer of 1868, a mere three years after the end of America’s most destructive military struggle, the country was at war again. This time, however, the fight was different, pitting Congress and President Andrew Johnson against one another over which branch of the federal government should determine how the states of the Confederacy should be readmitted into the Union. Congress’s dedication to determining the fate of the South led its members to choose to impeach the president, then place him on trial for defying Congressional authority. For many, the impeachment and trial of Johnson symbolized the larger power struggle between the executive and legislative branches of the American government. Reconstruction: Life After the Civil War examines one of the most controversial eras in U.S. history, when the nation sought to reestablish itself in the aftermath of the Civil War, overcome regional politics, and redefine the political, social, and economic realities of the nation’s four million blacks.
Specifications
Full-color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Sidebars. Chronology. Bibliography. Glossary. Further resources. Index.
About the Author(s)
Author and consulting editor Tim McNeese is associate professor of history at York College in York, Nebraska. He earned an associate’s degree from York College, a B.A. in history and political science from Harding University, and an M.A. in history from Missouri State University. A prolific author of books for elementary, middle and high school, and college readers, McNeese has published more than 100 books and educational materials in the past 20 years, on everything from the founding of Jamestown to Spanish painters. His writing has earned him a citation in the library reference work Contemporary Authors. In 2006, McNeese appeared on the History Channel program Risk Takers/History Makers: John Wesley Powell and the Grand Canyon. He was a faculty member at the 2006 Tony Hillerman Mystery Writers Conference in Albuquerque, where he presented on the topic of American Indians of the Southwest.