How do historians today describe Reconstruction?

The Reconstruction process was a historic period in the United States, which took place between 1865 and 1877, that is, immediately after the Civil War. During this period, the Democratic governments of the south were federally intervened, and the republicans of the north took control of these states. Thus, an egalitarian integration of African-Americans into southern society began to be attempted, which was not achieved due to the reluctance of whites and the emergence of shock groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Finally, after an electoral agreement between Democrats and Republicans, the former returned to dominate southern politics, beginning again with racial segregation against African Americans.

a. competition with other nations.