<P> The term Reconstruction Era , in the context of the history of the United States , has two senses : the first covers the complete history of the entire country from 1865 to 1877 following the American Civil War ( 1861 to 1865 ) ; the second sense focuses on the attempted transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877 , as directed by Congress , from states with economies dependent upon slavery , to states in which former slaves were citizens with civil rights . With the three Reconstruction Amendments , the era saw the first amendments to the U.S. Constitution in decades . </P>
in american history what was the purpose of the period known as reconstruction
the attempted transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877 , as directed by Congress , from states with economies dependent upon slavery , to states in which former slaves were citizens with civil rights