Re-examining Reconstruction

                                                            President Rutherford B. Hayes

 

  Briefly --

 PART 1

 For those who may not know, Reconstruction was the period in the U.S. following the Civil War during which the federal government attempted to assist the South in rebuilding its society and economy.  

I have just been reading about the Tilden-Hayes controversy in the Presidential election of 1876, by Eric Foner.  This is the most complete account I have read so far.  The story is complicated in its techanical aspects, but the out-come was that Hayes would be President and Reconstruction would largely come to an end.  

I'll have more to say about how this affects my view of President Hayes later.