It comprised multiple complex methods to resolve the outstanding issues of the war's aftermath, the most important of which were the three "Reconstruction Amendments" to the Constitution, which remain in effect to the present time: the 13th (1865), the 14th (1868) and the 15th (1870).
Uključivala je mnoštvo kompleksnih metoda kojima se pokušalo riješiti pitanje rata od kojih su najvažnija bila tri "amandmana rekonstrukcije" uvedena u Ustav SAD-a koja su ostala na snazi sve do danas: trinaesti (1865.), četrnaesti (1868.) i petnaesti amandman (1870.).