Abstract

This period of American history is often referred to as the Civil War and Reconstruction. Reconstruction, which is widely understood as the US Army’s occupation of the South, is not a completely accurate term to understand what occurred in the South during the war and its aftermath. A more accurate (and more modern term) to describe this period is nation-building. In the aftermath of successful military operations, the goal of nation-building is to establish a friendly, re-legitimized government. Recent scholarship has noted that nation-building involves both reconstruction and development. Reconstruction is the restoration of a society through outside intervention to stabilize social and political institutions, rebuild infrastructure, and address humanitarian needs. When the underlying political and social structure of a country has survived a war, reconstruction is intended to bring a country back to its pre-war condition. Development is the restructuring of existing political institutions and the creation of new institutions that are strong enough to stand on their own with the intent to transform a society. For the process of development to succeed, the local population must perceive that the newly established government is advancing their interests, and not the interests of the occupying force. ¹