Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880

This is one of the finest examples of scholarship and historical research and presentation ever put to pen, and yet in a way it's almost a masterwork of literature as well, the hope and despair and commitment to the truth, that it will Mean Something to show so clearly how the events truly transpired and that this can bring on the return of the fervor and humanity of the abolition-democracy coalition and it's brief revolution in the south and throughout the United States. Du Bois is not just a historian of a caliber that places him in the loftiest heights of what that profession is capable, but he as well is a writer whose command over the english language and ability to draw out such emotion and beauty while remaining unflinchingly loyal to the truth of the subject is perhaps even loftier and as worthy of praise.

Du Bois took a revolutionary new look at Reconstruction in the 1930's, providing a fresh view that went largely ignored until recent books by Foner and Litwack resuscitated this overlooked period in American history. Du Bois summons up his great intellectual bearing to illustrate that from being the unmitigated failure that Reconstruction has long been portrayed as, it was the crucible of civil rights legislation, a time when there was very definitely hope that America would redefine itself along more egalitarian lines. While the book deals predominately with the black man's point of view, Du Bois offers a principled Marxist view of labor relations at the time, and how the leading Radical Republicans tried to come to terms with the new industrial society that was emerging in America. Du Bois was a very compelling writer, he cuts through the layers of history to reveal the soul of the persons most greatly affected by Reconstruction. He charts the troubled waters of the Civil War, and the Presidential attempts at Reconstruction which followed the Union victories in the South. He provides a candid view of Lincoln, who struggled with his own prejudices, but eventually came to accept the black man because of the pivotal role he played in the war. Ironically, Du Bois noted a black did not become a man until he showed he could hold a gun in battle. Du Bois felt Lincoln really did alter his views during the course of the war, no longer favoring the colonist view held by many that blacks should be repatriated to Africa. However, Du Bois felt that Lincoln lacked the convictions to really push forward Reconstruction, that his principal concern remained in reclaiming the Southern states in the Union. The mighty task of Reconstruction was left up to the Radical Republicans in Congress and the "Black" legislatures that emerges in the South during this time. Du Bois refutes the Dunning-Bowers view that blacks were incapable of forming governments, by providing a chapter on "The Black Proletariat in South Carolina." Here, he shows that blacks fully recognized the enormity of this most propitious moment, but that they ran up against a set of state and federal courts, which refused to hold up their decisions. While blacks were now members of state legislatures and of the US Congress, they did not take over the South, as is often described. Even in South Carolina, where blacks outnumbered whites, blacks were only temporarily able to seize control of the legislature, and force a new state constitution. This is the book that forms the basis for Foner's excellent book, Reconstruction. Du Bois was the first to realize that Reconstruction was more than just an epilog to the Civil War, but the beginning of the long road to freedom, which took nearly 100 years in the making for blacks in America.

Great read. Adds historical perspective to current reality of America.

HIGHLY Recommend for all, especially high schoolers. Well written, and full of great history lessons. duBois wrote long enough after reconstruction to get a good perspective, but soon enough after that he has lots of pertinent sources. This book shows how black people, the majority former slaves, responded to the call of reconstruction after the war between the States. They were, for the most, sincere, thoughtful, honest, and eager to become free citizens. They were the majority in three Southern states, and large minorities in most of the others. They were asked to become part of the leadership from towns to Congress and performed admirably until the military & Freedman's Bureau were removed from the south in the late 1870's. duBois book shows different attitudes towards racial differences in different parts of the Country at the time. duBois' ideas from the Marxist philosophy of labor vs. capital that was gaining attention in the mid 1800's run alongside his history of the period. He laments that black & white labor were not able to combine politically and he explains how the prompting of increased racism prevented that combination. This book is a great clue to the puzzle of how we got to where we are today.

GReat book all should read American History

An important history by a brilliant scholar who witnessed part of the Reconstruction era, its unfortunate and total abandonment by the nation, and the ensuing struggle for civil rights in the first half of the 20th century.

It is not widely known that W.E.B. DuBois was one of the most accomplished social scientists of the 20th century; that through his study of African Americans in The Philadelphia Negro, he became one of the first, if not the first socioloigists; that his book The World and Africa, is one of the most profound works on global history of his time. An important reason for DuBois great stature is reveled in what he accomplished in Black Reconstruction. DuBois locates history in all of the subjects of the time. When he talks about slavery, he tells the story through the words, bodies, and circumstances of slaves, poor whites who were the overseers and middle managers of slavery, plantation owners who were the masterminds of a slave culture and northern industrialists who envied the wealth and power of the south. DuBois was a master at identifying and using sources that speak out of the historical moment (something for which he was criticized at the original publishing of Black Reconstruction). But whether or not his critics were correct, no where else can you find authors and writings of the 19th century quoted truthfully in their unabashed belief in and support for slavery and their unashamed assurance that people of African descent were inferior to whites in every way. By including a razor sharp analysis of slavery, the socio-economics of white supremacy, and the pyscho-social dynamics of racism, DuBois always nails what is usually strangely absent or unsaid by most European social scientists of his time. For this reason, there can be no clear understanding of Reconstruction without reading DuBois Black Reconstruction.

I am captivated by African American history. This volume is essential reading. You quickly understand that the Reconstruction Government had a definite vision - to try to make things right for emancipated slaves and their descendants. Had these goals been realized, the US might have been able to move on. But right-wing forces quickly turned the tide, and sank the ship. Then set about undoing the progress that had been made. It wasn't for another century after Reconstruction that things began to change for African-Americans. There is no excuse for being ignorant of this critical period in US history. Ron DeSantis should read the book.

Gostei e li

If you want to know the history of the Negro (Du Bois's word) from the Civil War onwards, this is a thrilling and instructive narrative by a top sociologist on the problems that section of the American people have faced and are facing. I bought it because of Black Lives Matter, and although it was written in the 1930s, much of the social content still matters.

Livre dense , difficile mais trzs important pour qui veut comprendre les USA

A must read!

ORIGINAL MATERIAL ON HOW AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE AFFECTED BY THESE EVENTS