Reconstruction drastically changed the way of life in Southern America, and completely transformed the country in many ways. African Americans gained much more freedom, it beneficially changed the south, and it left behind a strong legacy of the American government. Despite its certain limitations, reconstruction truly transformed the United States into a “more perfect union” (Hewitt, 371). After reconstruction, African Americans had much more autonomy and control over their own lives, the lives of their families, and their religious practices, especially with the abolition of slavery and the legal basis of freedom being enshrined into the constitution (Hewitt, 370). They had a certain amount of political and economic freedom
