Interesting reading in The Era of Reconstruction 1865-1877 by Kenneth M. Stampp. This 229 page paperback was published in 1965. 

In The Era of Reconstruction, 1865–1877 Kenneth M. Stampp explores the plans for Reconstruction. He does not deal with the particulars of how each state and state governments responded to edicts from the federal government or how they dealt with Reconstruction on their own terms. Stampp restricts himself to the inner workings of Presidential Reconstruction from President Abraham Lincoln’s inklings of a plan when the Civil War broke out through President Andrew Johnson’s activities, to Congressional Reconstruction, all the way until Reconstruction came to an end when the conservatives had their way. He provides details and insights on the periods of Reconstruction and how they moved from one to the other. For example: Stampp discusses Lincoln’s inconsistencies when it came to the equality of the races and how those opinions changed throughout Lincoln’s lifetime. He even proposes that if Lincoln had not been assassinated in 1865 that Lincoln might have come to realize that he could not simply restore the South to the Union in the same position that it had held before without refashioning Southern society. However, Lincoln’s plans and possible future plans never saw fruition because he died shortly after starting his second term as president. 
Overall, Stampp is arguing that Reconstruction, in terms of its main motivators, was very successful. He says that there are three main areas that concerned those managing Reconstruction; the consolidation of American industrial power, maintaining Republican political power, and making the South more democratic and less based on stringent class structures. He believes that the first two were successful. American industrial power expanded during the post-bellum years and continued its growth into the 20th century. And, while the Republicans never had control of the Southern governments in the way that they would have liked, they successfully prevented a Democratic government from taking hold. They maintained their grip on the presidency until 1912 apart from 1892. It is only in the last arena that they failed miserably. The socio-economics of the South remained unchanged in the short-term with share-cropping and many former slaves remaining second class citizens. Stampp, however, argues that, the 14th and 15th Amendments could only have been adopted during the radical reconstruction makes up for any egregious errors and mishaps that took place. Great look at this time in our history in this book very good condition. Clean unmarked pages. Very light tanning on inside covers. Previous owners name on inside front cover.  Shipping and handling 3.90 Media Mail to US destinations. Canadian residents 15.75 First Class mail. All others welcome but extra postage required and shipped entirely at your risk.