Genres
Production Companies
McGee Media
PBS Productions
Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
Overview
The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. The twelve years that composed the post-war Reconstruction era (1865-77) witnessed a seismic shift in the meaning and makeup of our democracy, with millions of former slaves and free black people seeking out their rightful place as equal citizens under the law. Though tragically short-lived, this bold democratic experiment was, in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, a ‘brief moment in the sun’ for African Americans, when they could advance, and achieve, education, exercise their right to vote, and run for and win public office.
Key Crew
Director: Julia Marchesi
Producer: Julia Marchesi, Rob Rapley, Cyndee Readdean, Stacey L. Holman
Writer: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Top Cast
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Self
Videos
Reconstruction: America After The Civil War | Trailer
