It was the 100th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence in 1876, an exciting year for the U.S. America was changing, improving, and creating opportunities so that all Americans could seek their hopes for happiness just as Thomas Jefferson once imagined. In addition to improving America, the idea of Reconstruction was brought up. The purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the 11 states that had left the Union to create the Confederate States of America and to accept the millions of freedmen (former slaves) as American Citizens. Reconstruction began in May of 1865, shortly after the Civil War ended. The first step in Reconstruction, the Confederate state governments were taken out and the South was placed under military rule by the
