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Title: Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow: 1864-1896 (Drama of American History) by Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier ISBN: 0-7614-0819-3 Publisher: Benchmark Books Pub. Date: January, 2000 Format: Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $31.36

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

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Summary: How Jim Crow came to rule the Reconstructed South
Comment: The title of "Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow: 1864-1896" provides a concise encapsulation of what the North tried to do to the former Confederate states after the Civil War and how the South responded. This fits perfectly with the "core content" approach of The Drama of American History series by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. The irony here is the cover illustration of Abraham Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet, since it was the political and social problem of what to do about the freedmen that was the crucial issue following the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination was arguably the biggest factor in what came to pass. As Collier and Collier contend at the end of their first chapter, while we can only speculate about what Lincoln would have done about the problem of Southern Reconstruction and black rights, we can be fairly certain he would have done a better than those who followed him.

This volume is divided into six chapter, each focusing on a key element in the Reconstruction struggle: (1) A Great War Ends and a New Conflict Begins defines the twin problems of how to treat the freedmen and how the Southern states should be readmitted to the Union. On both these topics there were wide ranges of opinion, from the radical Republicans who wanted to punish the South for the Civil War to common citizens who wanted to see the freed slaves shipped back to Africa. What would become important would be which political faction controlled the government. (2) A New President Tries to Reconstruct the South makes it very clear that Andrew Johnson's political motivation was not to give black Americans the vote but rather to bring down the aristocratic plantation owners he had hated most of his life. Consequently, he allowed the Southern states to adopt Black Codes that under cut the end of slavery. This was what galvanized the radical Republicans in Congress to go after Johnson himself. (3) The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson takes the position that the president was going out of the way to antagonize his congressional opponents and that the basis for the impeachment was obviously unconstitutional. However, they clearly dismiss the idea of Johnson being heroic or worthy of praise for his efforts. (4) The Tide Turns when the Republicans gained firm control of the Congress, because of the votes of not only blacks in the South but "scalawags" (poor farmers who felt the Civil War had been fought to preserve the power of the wealthy planters). (5) The South Strikes Back focuses primarily on the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a reaction to the Northern attempt to promote black equality and the end of Reconstruction with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, who had promised to give the South a free hand in dealing with the freedmen and other political issues. (6) The South Redeemed looks at how white supremacy was entrenched by the end of the 19th-century and officially endorsed by the Supreme Court's 1896 ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson.

The specific breakdown of chapters in "Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow" certainly gives the big picture of what happened in the South after the Civil War. Rather than being tangled up with the scandalous woes of the Grant administration, the focus is simply on what the North tried to do to the South and how the South responded. Given that the issue of voting and other civil rights for blacks in the South would not be "settled" (for lack of a better word), until the 1960s it is important for students of American history to know that the system of what we now call the Jim Crow South was in place before the end of the 19th century. The book is illustrated with historic etchings and photographs, as well as some choice political cartoons (of which you can never have too many in a history book). This particular volume shows the strength of this series in focusing on a key issue, such as Reconstruction, within a specific time frame, to wit 1864 to 1896, which overlaps other volumes look at concurrent issues (e.g., the rise of industry, the settlement of the west). I know this series is designed for secondary students, but I think this approach to learning about American history would be useful at any level of study.