In the tumultuous years after the Civil War (1863-77), America grappled with how to rebuild itself, how to successfully bring the South back into the Union and how to bring former slaves into the life of the country. Dion Graham narrates.

"Revolution"
In the chaos following the Civil War, a revolution takes shape in the South. Former slaves move to take control of their lives, setting up their own communities, churches and schools. Southern whites, deeply threatened, resist - often violently. Congress finally acts to stem the violence and safeguard blacks' rights, and passes Radical Reconstruction, imposing military rule on the South and giving black men the vote. (Part 1 of 2)

"Retreat"
Radical Reconstruction, the world's first large-scale experiment in interracial democracy, sweeps across the South; white resistance flares into violence. Northern commitment to Reconstruction wanes as the white Southern version of Reconstruction, the "lost cause," captures the Northern imagination. By 1877, Reconstruction is over, but it has laid the groundwork, both in legislation and in black memory, for the great Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. (Part 2 of 2)

Mondays, 2/13 and 2/20 from 9-10:30 p.m. ET