Southern Reconstruction

by Philip Leigh

The Reconstruction Era — the years immediately following the Civil War when Congress directed the reintegration of the former Confederate states into the Union — remains, as historian Eric Foner suggests, “America’s unfinished revolution.” But Reconstruction is more than a story of great racial injustice; it has left a complex legacy involving both blacks and whites, Southerners and Northerners, that is reflected today by the fact that many of the states with the highest rates of poverty were part of the former Confederacy.

In Southern Reconstruction, Philip Leigh examines Federal wartime legislation in order to broaden our understanding of Reconstruction, revealing how it led to African Americans being used as political pawns, first to ensure continued Republican rule, and finally to be blamed for the South’s hardships in order to draw poor whites away from Populism and back to the aristocratic white Democratic banner.

Civil War laws, such as the Confiscation Acts, Pacific Railroad Acts, Homestead Act, Legal Tender Act, National Banking Act, and Veterans Pensions Acts, transformed America’s banking system, built a railroad web, and launched the Gilded Age in the North and West, but it also created a dubious alliance between banks and government, sparked corruption, purposely depressed Southern industry, trapped Southern farmers — both black and white — in endless annual peonage cycles, and failed to provide lands for freedmen.

While Reconstruction was intended to return the South to the Union, it could not be effective with laws that abetted Southern poverty, disfranchised many whites, fostered racial animosity to a point where lynchings and Jim Crow laws erupted, and lined the pockets of wealthy or politically well-connected business leaders outside of the region.

Genres: History, American History, Civil War, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published July 30, 2017

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a work of original research, but rather an uneven synthesis that places issues of class, economics, and politics back into a period seen currently almost exclusively through race. The book is disjointed in places and sometimes fumbles in discussing racial issues, but not always. Indeed, Leigh makes a good case for Populism actually signalling the start of Jim Crow, a subversion of the Woodward argument. At the bare minimum, Leigh makes a farce of the increasingly popular argument that "the South lost the war and won the peace." It is a statement as ludicrous as anything in the much maligned Dunning school.

Given the monotony of Reconstruction histories that focus on the "evil racist South" stereotype this book is challenging and refreshing. The book is not really a 5 but I rate higher for being a voice in the wilderness. I would encourage people wanting to do something fresh and new in the field to go Leigh's route and bring back class, economics, and politics while not ignoring Northern racism (attempts to give blacks the vote in the North in 1868 failed). However, given the times and the fact that most academics are not white Southerners, I have my doubts, particularly as we again fracture on regional lines. Yet, I still hope Leigh will not be the last word.

[Michael Criswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an impressively comprehensive account of what is arguably the most tumultuous time in American history. As an entire region of the country lay in ruin, an infant GOP recognized the precariousness of its position and went to great lengths to preserve its dominance in the federal government.

Leigh boldly treads into politically incorrect waters by suggesting that race was but one factor in an era marked by increasing strife among the economic classes and cronyism. Through carefully documented evidence, he shows how the Republican party feigned concern for black equality as a means to assume political power in the South and implement their political agenda, an agenda which primarily, if not solely, benefited the rich and connected Northern elite.

Perhaps what this book does most is explode the notion that the South "won" Reconstruction by successfully driving out the carpetbag Republicans and implementing discriminatory Jim Crow laws. Leigh deftly explains the nuances concerning racial views and barriers in the South, neither denying the general racism of Southerners(especially poor whites) nor solely blaming them for the outcome. He shows that there were just as many impoverished whites living hand to mouth as there were blacks, a condition that continued well into the 20th century. Injurious federal policies, from protective tariffs to lavish veterans' pensions, had the effect of further burdening poor Southerners, white and black, with taxation and rigging marketplace dynamics in favor of Northern monopolists.

The information in this book actually goes a long way in explaining current political and cultural dynamics. An urban yuppie would do well to read this to get a comprehensive understanding of the rural, "redneck" mentality that currently pervades the populist right. Alas, we live in an increasingly tribal world with nasty leaders that brazenly vilify demographics they're opposed to, whether they be the "deplorables" of blue-collar Trump supporters or the "snowflakes" of the left. Such appeals to understanding to those who wish only to see their side win, combined with a system that rewards such behavior, makes it an exercise in futility.

[Gregory Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leigh does an excellent job of presenting an extremely well documented non-partisan detailed analysis of the Reconstruction and it's impact upon both the North and South. He did so without bowing to the trend of North is good and South is bad. That said, at times he gets very technical, especially when he gets into discussions of monetary theory and the Reconstruction. Fortunately, those are few and far apart.

This is a detailed read with a lot of facts. As I read this, I find it horrendous that the federal government committed so many atrocities upon the South. Not one dollar of federal support was given to the South to recover from the destruction and poverty until over 80 years after the war. This will be one of the biggest sins in the history of the United States.

[Lamar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narratives surrounding Reconstruction are primarily raced based views. Focusing upon the violence lynchings and tyrranical rule of while southerners against blacks in the former confederate states. This book by Leigh seeks to expand the narrative and reintroduce class and economics back into the discussion of Reconstruction. For Leigh, Republican preference for blacks was motivated by self-interest in maintaining dominance rather than any thoughts about equality or rights. Republicans pushed franchisement of blacks in the south while simultaneously removing the right to vote from white southerners who were apart of the Confederacy. With political dominance, Northern carpetbaggers were able to abuse the southern economy through a combination of corruption, monetary policy, and tariffs which permenantly damaged the south economically for decades.

I feel that especially in the current manichean age there is a growing arguement that the south "lost the war but one the peace". This is the book that I would show those who believe such ideas. Ultimately Leigh argues that Reconstruction failed because of Republican disinterest after securing their parties survival without the need for Southern black votes. White supremacist violence was ineed prevalent in certain areas but was effectively squashed in many cases by the Carpetbag state governments like Mississippi or disbanded once the Redeemers took back controle. While disjointed, I would say that this is an excellent book to read for anyone wishing to get a different perspective on the Reconstruction era.

[Bobby Eubanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a Balanced viewpoint

Although this book is not lengthy it is packed with information about the period known as Reconstruction. Most books I have read about reconstruction fail to accurately detail the negative impact it had on the South. Also this book gave details about the negative impact upon black and white citizens of the South. The rise of racism and its political impacts upon our nation are explained in detail. I highly recommend that you add this book to your reading of American history.

[Dan Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different look at Reconstruction that emphasizes the North's abandonment of the South and Reconstruction because of the growth of the northern economy, the Gilded Age, and the desire to secure Republican domination of the federal government. It feels a bit "clunky" in places but overall a good read.

[William Guerrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the book for readers looking for a good comprehensive history of Reconstruction. For such readers, Eric Foner’s Reconstruction is the place to begin. But this book very nicely fills in the gaps in Foner’s telling.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a refreshing look into Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. Leigh provides a plethora of primary sources, statistics, and a smattering of photographs in this must-read book. There is a lot here that we weren’t taught in school, or co