Bibliograph

Reconstruction, a very short introduction, Allen C. Guelzo

Type

Label

Reconstruction, a very short introduction, Allen C. Guelzo

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-160) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Reconstruction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1111645496

Responsibility statement

Allen C. Guelzo

Series statement

Very short introductions, 635

Sub title

a very short introduction

Summary

The era known as Reconstruction is one of the unhappiest times in American history. It succeeded in reuniting the nation politically after the Civil War but in little else. Among its chief failures was the inability to chart a progressive course for race relations after the abolition of slavery and rise of Jim Crow. Reconstruction also struggled to successfully manage the Southern resistance towards a Northern, free-labor pattern. But the failures cannot obscure a number of notable accomplishments, with decisive long-term consequences for American life: the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, the election of the first African American representatives to the US Congress, and the avoidance of any renewed outbreak of civil war. Reconstruction suffered from poor leadership and uncertainty of direction, but it also laid the groundwork for renewed struggles for racial equality during the Civil Rights Movement. This Very Short Introduction delves into the constitutional, political, and social issues behind Reconstruction to provide a lucid and original account of a historical moment that left an indelible mark on American social fabric. Historian Allen C. Guelzo depicts Reconstruction as a "bourgeois revolution" -- as the attempted extension of the free-labor ideology embodied by Lincoln and the Republican Party to what was perceived as a Southern region gone astray from the Founders' intention in the pursuit of Romantic aristocracy

Table Of Contents

Introduction -- Vengeance : April-December 1865 -- Alienation : December 1865-March 1867 -- Arrogance : March 1867-May 1868 -- Resistance : May 1868-March 1869 -- Distraction : March 1869-May 1872 -- Law : 1866-1876 -- Dissension : September 1872-April 1877 -- Epilogue --Timeline

Classification