Final answer:
Reconstruction granted African Americans citizenship and political participation, but a violent white backlash and terror groups subverted these advances, leading to enduring racial injustice and the collapse of Reconstruction.
Step-by-step explanation:
During Reconstruction, opportunities improved for African Americans as they gained citizenship rights, including the right to serve on juries, hold public office, and vote due to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Fourteenth Amendment, and the Fifteenth Amendment.
However, the white backlash against these gains was severe, with the formation of paramilitary terrorist groups and a campaign of violence aimed at African Americans and their allies. Southern whites attempted to restore the antebellum social order and engaged in practices that subverted the political and social improvements intended by Reconstruction, ultimately leading to its collapse.
Although there were some instances of progressive Southern whites aiding in reform efforts, the pervasive climate was one of resentment and resistance to the changes. The result was a perpetuation of racial injustice, as many African Americans remained subjugated through tenancy, sharecropping, and faced ongoing segregation and disenfranchisement well beyond the end of Reconstruction.