The Reconstruction state governments in the South are historically notable for:

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Establishing the first public school systems and expanding democratic participation in the South. Reconstruction state governments made genuine and lasting contributions to Southern society, most notably establishing the first public school systems in a region that had previously resisted tax-funded education. These governments also expanded democratic participation by removing property qualifications for voting and holding office, building roads and infrastructure, and establishing charitable institutions like hospitals and orphanages. They represented the South's first experiment with broadly democratic governance.

The claim that Reconstruction governments were entirely controlled by formerly enslaved people is a myth - while Black political participation was significant, whites held the majority of offices in most states, and white Republicans (both carpetbaggers and scalawags) held many of the most powerful positions. The accusation of exceptional corruption was a tool of "Redeemer" propaganda; while some corruption existed in Reconstruction governments, it was no worse than corruption in contemporary Northern governments such as New York's Tweed Ring, and the "Redeemer" governments that replaced them were often equally corrupt. Plantation land was not redistributed; most land remained in the hands of its prewar owners.

Reconstruction state governments are an important DSST exam topic because modern historians have significantly revised the hostile view promoted by earlier scholarship. The "Dunning School" portrayed Reconstruction as a tragic era of misgovernment, but contemporary historians recognize the genuine achievements of these governments and the role of white supremacist violence in destroying them.

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