Reconstruction BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
(1865–77) the period of American history after the Civil War when the southern states, under government and military control, rejoined the US. Slavery was ↑ abolish ed , African Americans were given the right to vote, and a few universities were established for African-American people. Many white southerners strongly opposed these measures and some formed the Ku Klux Klan.