Reconstruction was happening in the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination and it had all of the problems and growing pains one would expect after a country has fought a protracted Civil War and a group of millions of enslaved people were freed, with many lacking resources or the education and knowledge to adequately use this newfound freedom. President Lincoln had set up this bureau before his death.

At the start, a 'Freedman's Bureau' was set up to assist newly-freed blacks in areas such as gaining literacy and a general education, the acquisition of property, familiarity and participation with the country's political system and helping freed blacks assert their legal rights in a country riven by a long, painful war. This sort of sums up Eric Foner's sad tale of the optimism generated at the start of America's Reconstruction after the Civil War and emancipation of all slaves. It was the best of times it was the worst of times, and then it got even worse. I need time to recover from this book! It may be a five-star book, but I don't possess a five-star mind.

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Reconstruction by Eric Foner