On July 15, 1870, Georgia became the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union, thus unifying the United States once more.

The period following the Civil War is known as the Reconstruction era, and refers to the transformation of the Southern United States – the former Confederacy – from 1863 to 1877. The Reconstruction of the South dealt with passing laws, electing new officials, and establishing policies within the Southern states before the states were to be readmitted to the Union.

Reconstruction policies were implemented when a state that had joined the Confederacy came under the control of federal troops. President Abraham Lincoln set up reconstructed governments in several southern states during the war, and experimented with giving land to ex-slaves. President Andrew Johnson continued Lincoln’s plans after Lincoln’s assassination. However, many felt that Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans were too lenient on the Southern states, and began a more radical reconstruction.

Congress removed the civilian governments in the South and put the former Confederacy under the rule of the U.S. Army. The army then conducted new elections in which the freed slaves could vote. People who had held leadership positions under the Confederacy were denied the vote and could not run for office. Reconstruction programs that funded public schools, offered aid to railroads, and raised taxes were formed. Though the Reconstruction was a time of rebuilding and growth, it was also a time of corruption and violence, as different groups fought to control the readmitted Southern states.

All Southern states were readmitted to representation in Congress by the end of 1870, the last being Georgia on July 15, 1870.