Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North

Instead of pointing the finger solely at Southern racists, historians have primarily attributed the downfall of Reconstruction to them. Heather Cox Richardson offers a contrasting viewpoint, suggesting that class played a significant role in bringing Reconstruction to an end alongside race. Support from the North for African Americans and the Reconstruction effort dwindled as criticisms of the economy grew louder and calls for wealth redistribution became more prevalent. By analyzing various sources such as newspapers, public speeches, popular writings, Congressional documents, and private letters, Richardson tracks the shift in Northern attitudes towards African Americans from the idealized view of black workers by Republicans in 1861 to the publication of Booker T. Washington's "Up from Slavery" in 1901. She explores issues like black suffrage, disenfranchisement, taxation, westward migration, lynching, and civil rights to uncover the path of Northern disillusionment with Reconstruction. Richardson exposes a rising opposition from Northerners towards those advocating for working-class activism to address inequalities, as well as the rise of a middle class in America that valued individual productivity and viewed African Americans as a threat to their own prosperity. "The Death of Reconstruction" presents a fresh perspective on the intersection of race and labor in American history, highlighting the significance of class in the post-Civil War effort to integrate African Americans into a progressive and thriving society.

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