Why and how did the Union win the Civil War? What were the major issues, goals, and controversies at stake in Reconstruction? What was achieved during Reconstruction, and what was not achieved? How would you assess the success of Reconstruction from the viewpoints of whites in the North and the South, and of black Americans in the South? On balance, should Reconstruction be judged a national success or a national failure in U.S. history?  What were the most important ways that the Civil War and Reconstruction changed the United States by 1877? ​