1. Reconstruction Era The civil war and the period of Reconstruction brought great social, political, and economic change to American society. The effects of these changes continued into the 20th century. A social change was the abolition of slavery. An economic change was the panic of 1873 which was part of a series of crisis'. A political change was the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau to provide assistance to emancipated slaves. So Far, we have come up with a time line which consists of events that took place during the reconstruction era.