Final answer:
Reconstruction is a topic of debate, with some arguing that it failed to address long-term challenges in the South, while others believe it was successful in achieving its primary goals of restoring the Union and ending slavery.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of whether Reconstruction failed is a topic of much debate among historians. Supporters of viewpoint a. argue that Reconstruction failed because it did not sufficiently address the long-term social and political challenges facing the South after the Civil War. They point to the persistence of poverty and racism in the region as evidence of this failure. On the other hand, supporters of viewpoint b. argue that Reconstruction was successful in achieving its primary goal of restoring the Union and ending slavery. They highlight the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which protected the voting rights of African Americans, as significant achievements of this period.