US HISTORY II HONORS

Please click on the website to get the article required for U.S. History II Honors summer reading. After you have read the article on Reconstruction, answer the following question in a 2 page, double-spaced essay due on Thursday, September 4th.
Ms. Duryea

http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=692

QUESTION: Why did Reconstruction apparently fail so badly? Was the failure primarily one of immediate political circumstances or was it more deeply rooted in the history of American sectional and race relations?