Reconstruction, Political and Economic, 1865-1877.

by William Archibald Dunning

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Genres: History, Civil War, American History

Paperback

First published March 1, 1935

About the author

American historian and political scientist

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is truly amazing what is left out of history classes regarding so many aspects affecting humans then and now taking place before, during and after the civil war / war between the states / the war for southern independence in elementary, high school and university at every level.

[Mark Harden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1907, it tells the true story of the scandals and corruption of Reconstruction. A necessary antidote to the revisionist Woke history of Reconstruction written by the Marxist Eric Foner.

[Da1tonthegreat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wikipedia article for the 'Dunning School' includes a quote from a historian that is worth critiquing. "All agreed that black suffrage had been a political blunder and that the Republican state governments in the South that rested upon black votes had been corrupt, extravagant, unrepresentative, and oppressive." So far so good, this certainly describes the view Dunning puts forth in this text.

"The sympathies of the 'Dunningite' historians lay with the white Southerners who resisted Congressional Reconstruction: whites who, organizing under the banner of the Conservative or Democratic Party, used legal opposition and extralegal violence to oust the Republicans from state power." They were, of course, the ones who suffered the most in the aftermath of the Civil War.

"Although 'Dunningite' historians did not necessarily endorse those extralegal methods, they did tend to palliate them. From start to finish, they argued, Congressional Reconstruction—often dubbed 'Radical Reconstruction'—lacked political wisdom and legitimacy." I don't see anything inaccurate in this assessment, or anything that is disagreeable. What is disagreeable is the Orwellian historical revisionism of Marxists like Eric Foner, a Jewish 'historian' and racial egalitarian. Dunning's history wasn't politically correct by today's standards, but it's true.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A potent account of the extended limbo known as Reconstruction