Reconstruction may be one of the most misunderstood eras in American history. Versions of the era like the early motion picture Birth of a Nation (1915) and the novel Gone With the Wind (1936) — which was made into one of the best-loved American movies of all time — popularized a view of the Old South as a genteel society of gallant aristocrats, a lost world shattered by Northern violence. These myths, of course, ignored the injustices of slavery, the era’s rampant racism, and the shocking violence of the time. They also missed the significance of the era’s advances in civil rights and justice.
Historians review some myths and misconceptions about the Reconstruction era.
