Ending the Civil War and Consequences for Congress

Overview & Synopsis

This collection explores the closing months and weeks of the Civil War and its implications for Congress in the postwar nation. Topics include ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment; Sherman's March and the laws of war; commemoration of the Civil War after 100 and 150 years; sectionalism, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the end of popular constitutionalism; treatment of federal prisoners of war; the refugee crisis at the end of the war and in the Reconstruction period; and the postbellum U.S. economy.