The Reconstruction era concluded in which year?

• A. 1868
• B. 1860
• C. 1870
• D. 1882

Answer: (C)

Reconstruction is the period after the Civil War when the country was rebuilding the South and extending new rights to formerly enslaved people. By 1870, important steps had been completed that many fourth-grade histories use to mark the end of Reconstruction: several Southern states had been readmitted to the Union, and the 15th Amendment, which protected voting rights for Black men, was ratified. These milestones show a clear shift in the era and are why 1870 is considered the end in this context.

The other dates don’t fit as neatly for this framing: 1860 is before the war ends, 1868 is still early in Reconstruction, and 1882 comes well after Reconstruction and into a different period of U.S. history.