reconstruction

American  

[ree-kuhn-struhk-shuhn] / ˌri kənˈstrʌk ʃən /

noun

1. the act of reconstructing, rebuilding, or reassembling, or the state of being reconstructed.

   the gigantic task of reconstruction after a fire.

2. something reconstructed, rebuilt, or reassembled.

   a reconstruction of the sequence of events leading to his death; accurate reconstructions of ancient Greek buildings.

3. (initial capital letter)

   1. the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War.

   2. the period during which this took place, 1865–77.

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Reconstruction British  

/ ˌriːkənˈstrʌkʃən /

noun

1. history the period after the Civil War when the South was reorganized and reintegrated into the Union (1865–77)

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Reconstruction Cultural  

1. The period after the Civil War in which the states formerly part of the Confederacy were brought back into the United States. During Reconstruction, the South was divided into military districts for the supervision of elections to set up new state governments. These governments often included carpetbaggers, as former officials of the Confederacy were not allowed to serve in them. The new state governments approved three amendments to the Constitution: the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment, which had a provision keeping some former supporters of the Confederacy out of public office until Congress allowed them to serve; and the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed voting rights for black men. Once a state approved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, it was to be readmitted to the United States and again represented in Congress. The official end of Reconstruction came in 1877, when the last troops were withdrawn from the South.

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Discover More

The program established for Reconstruction, largely the work of Republicans in the North, was far more severe than what President Abraham Lincoln had proposed before his assassination. Large numbers of white southerners resented being kept out of the “healing” of the nation that Lincoln had called for and were unwilling to give up their former authority. Ill feeling by former Confederates during Reconstruction led to the formation of the Ku Klux Klan and a long-standing hatred among southerners for the Republican party.

Other Word Forms

• pre-Reconstruction noun
• reconstructional adjective
• reconstructionary adjective
• self-reconstruction noun

Etymology

Origin of reconstruction

First recorded in 1785–95; re- + construction

Example Sentences

A consultant surgeon specialising in breast reconstruction said it was a gallery of surgery images on her social media that caught the eye of television producers.

From BBC

Home Minister Tito Karnavian, who leads a reconstruction task force in Sumatra, told lawmakers on February 18 that only 8,300 temporary structures -- roughly half of the 16,688 planned -- have been built.

From Barron's

In a post on X, Lula said he had mobilised the wider government to support those in the region and said his focus was on providing humanitarian assistance and supporting reconstruction efforts.

From BBC

According to a joint World Bank, European Union and United Nations report with Kyiv, published on Monday, the cost of post-war reconstruction is estimated at around $558 billion over the next decade.

From Barron's

The total cost of reconstruction in Ukraine is estimated at around $588 billion over the next decade, the World Bank reported Monday.

From Barron's

Related Words

• rehabilitation
• reorganization
• repair
• restoration