In the Time of the Second American Revolution

In the Time of the Second American Revolution

February is Black History Month

Book Review

The Era of Reconstruction, Kenneth Stampp, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1975

Back in the days of my‘pre-history’ the Reconstruction period directly after the American Civil War ended in 1865 was cast as the time of the scalawags, carpetbaggers, Black Codes and ultimately after a determined fight by the ‘right’ people in the South‘redemption’. In short a time of shame in the American experience. Well so much for that nonsense. There was plenty that went wrong during radical reconstruction the South but the conventional high school history textbooks never got into the whole story. The whole story is that until fairly recently this reconstruction period was the most democratic period in the South in American history, for white and black alike. The book under review, or rather some essays done by Professor Stampp on this subject, went a long way toward a better understanding of the period.

Professor Stamp, as he must, starts off his book by describing the political problems associated with most of the earlier studies of Reconstruction done by those influenced by Professor Dunning in the early 20^th century. That picture presented, as I described in my opening sentence, the familiar corrupt and scandalous activities associated with this period. Needless to say this position dovetailed very nicely with the rationale for Jim Crow in the pre-1960’s South. Moreover, in the hands of its northern liberal devotees nicely covered up the burgeoning corruption of the northern based ‘robber barons’. There is an old adage that history is written by the victors. Whatever the truth to that assertion Reconstruction history was written by the victors’ once removed.

The Reconstruction era was dominated by three basic plans that Professor Stampp describes in some detail; the Lincoln ‘soft’ union indivisible efforts; the Johnson ‘soft’ redemption plans; and, the radical Republican ‘scorched earth’ policy. In the end none of these plans was pursued strongly enough to insure that enhanced black rights would lead to enlightened citizenship. Stampp presents detailed critiques of all these plans and some insight about the country at the time that does not make for pretty reading.

The professor goes on to try to demystify what the radical reconstruction governments did and did not do. That there were scandalous activities and more than enough corrupt politicians to go around goes without saying. However like most myths there is a snowball effect about how bad things really were that obliterate the very real advances for black (and some poor whites) like public education, improved roads and increased state facilities that were anathema to the planting class that formerly ruled the South. The last part of the book deals with the conservative counter-revolution to overthrow the radical governments culminating the well-known Compromise of 1877 (the election of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in return for the withdrawal of federal troops from South basically). The actions of that rabble is certainly not pretty reading. Moreover it took about a century and a ‘cold’ civil war during the 1960’s (and that battle continues today) to even minimally right that situation. For those who need an in depth, definite study of this subject you must turn to the master Eric Foner and his book, Reconstruction. However, if you want an earlier, shorter but nevertheless informative overview of Reconstruction this is your first stop.