This module from the ProQuest History Vault offers insight into the early Reconstruction period in the American South. The U.S. Army's Office of Civil Affairs oversaw the five military districts into which the South was divided at the end of the Civil War. The documents reveal efforts to foster democracy and rebuild communities in the divided and war-torn former Confederate states. The files include letters, petitions, court proceedings, and internal documents related to elections. Another prominent subject is the fair administration of the election process. Troubles often arose as African Americans prepared to exercise their newly won rights to vote and run for office; many letters in the collection call for military intervention to secure these rights. Also included in this module are Letters Received by the Attorney General pertaining to law and order in southern states from 1871-1884 and records of the Freedmen's Hospital and the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company from 1870 to 1914.