History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States

"HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES" by William Horatio Barnes is a chronicle of a pivotal era in American governance. It explores the work of the Thirty-Ninth Congress as it grappled with the aftermath of the Civil War from when the Congress started on December 4, 1865. The book illuminates the tough questions of Reconstruction and how to bring the Southern states back into the nation. It describes the important people involved, like Schuyler Colfax and Thaddeus Stevens, and the discussions they had about how the South should be represented. The writing shows the mood of the time, full of arguments about what was fair and equal, and how to fix the country after the war. The narrative captures how important Congress was in deciding what America would look like after such big changes.