Reconstruction of the south became America's first priority after the Civil War was over. Different folks had different ideas how that would work.
Agendas die hard even in defeat, however, and reconstruction was a bitter time.
After the Confederacy lost the war, federal laws passed by Congress once again had full force and effect in the South. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, effective eight months after the war, freed all slaves . It was the first reconstruction law. Union troops stayed in the South to enforce reconstruction until 1877. Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson , came within one vote of losing his job over reconstruction.