reconstruction

[ree-kuhn-struhk-shuhn]

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.

Reconstruction

/ ˌriːkənˈstrʌkʃən /

noun

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

Reconstruction

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 The official end of Reconstruction came in 1877, when the last troops were withdrawn from the South.

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of reconstruction¹

First recorded in 1785–95; re- + construction

Example Sentences

The U.S. government can strengthen the commonwealth by accelerating the disbursement of reconstruction funds for the island’s energy grid.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Afaghani voiced hope that swift reconstruction could usher in "a stable Syria", which in turn would draw more returns from Europe.

Read more on Barron's

The risk of delays is that reconstruction could be stalled or take place only in the 53% of Gaza still controlled by Israel.

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Ukraine reserved the right to decide how to allocate resources, Ms Mudra said, adding that some would have to go towards other sectors like reconstruction and victim compensation.

Read more on BBC

Until then, Kushner said, no funds for reconstruction would go to areas that remain under Hamas’s control, and the focus would be on building up the safe side.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• rehabilitation 
• reorganization 
• repair 
• restoration