Was the Reconstruction Period a failure, success, or something in between?Please include Political, social and economic changes. Rise of Terrorism....

In many ways the Reconstruction era can be considered both
a failure and a success. It was a success due to the fact that the United States could
finally be called the "United" States again. It ended the separation between the North
and South, and ended the South trying to separate themselves from the North. Each state
in the South had a new draft of their state constitution. New amendments were added to
the Constitution: the 13, 14, and 15. These amendments granted equal rights to people of
all color. The  Civil War and Reconstruction era also helped resolve the federalism
dispute between Kentucky and Virginia. Because of the reconstruction era, the United
States was now a nation, not just a country.

Although there
were many positives and successes to the Reconstruction era, there were many negatives
associated with giving slaves their freedom. The economy of the South plundered because
there were now fewer people to work on the plantations. The racist group, the KKK,
became more prominent in the South attacking both blacks and whites striving to gain
equal rights for people of all color. The sharecropping system came into effect which
was not a positive thing for blacks. Although they were given a portion of land to farm
and to earn a profit, it was still very similar to
slavery.

Due to the depression of the 1870's,
reconstruction of the South was put on hold so others could focus on their own financial
situation. The Democrats took hold of the House and came up with the 1877 Compromise,
pulling federal troops out of the South. As a result, blacks would not truly gain
equality until the 1960's.