What problems did Reconstruction resolve? What problems did it fail to resolve?

dealt
with inequality at the formal, rather than substantive level. So although it allowed African
Americans to vote for the first time and hold public office, it did little or nothing to deal
with the underlying problems that had given rise to their subjection in the first place. Though
advocates of Reconstruction were committed to formal equality, in keeping with virtually all
white Americans at the time, they did not believe in substantive equality between the races. The
general attitude that prevailed was that African Americans were racially inferior, and although
they should enjoy legal and political equality, it was held they were not entitled to anything
more than that. This attitude strongly influenced the enforcement of Reconstruction measuresor
rather, the lack of it.

Supporters of Reconstruction seriously
underestimated how much sustained political energy was required to make it work. As time went
on, such energy inevitably waned. Most Americans, both North...