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[[File:Reconstruction1.jpg|left|250px|thumbnail|<i>America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877</i> by Eric Foner]]__NOTOC__

As the United States entered the 20th century, Reconstruction slowly receded into popular memory. Historians began to debate its results. William Dunning and John W. Burgess led the first group to offer a coherent and structured argument. Along with their students at Columbia University, Dunning, Burgess, and their retinue created a historical school of thought known as the Dunning School. This interpretation of Reconstruction placed it firmly in the category of historical blunder.

Both Thomas and Foner are correct when they view both events as revolutionary. The legislation passed during Reconstruction stands as the tangible result that allowed for the legalistic protests of the Civil Rights movement. Thus, the Civil War allowed for the passage of such legislation, with Reconstruction providing the historical moment in which to ratify such measures. While Harold Woodman correctly asserts that the quality of change should be the measuring stick by which Reconstruction is judged, his denial of its gradual influence misses the point. When the FDR sent Works Progress Administration agents into the “black belt” during the Great Depression, former slaves (in interviews) repeatedly recalled both the disappointments of Reconstruction but also its accomplishments. Reconstruction and the Civil War provided the light at the end of the tunnel for African Americans. While the tunnel has been long, difficult and arduous and the light has still to be reached, its intensity has grown so that no longer is America and its people in total darkness.

[[Category:19th Century History]] [[Category:Book Review]] [[Category:United States History]][[Category:Reconstruction]] [[Category:Videri.org]] [[Category:Historiography]]