The era of reconstruction, 1865-1877 - Kenneth M. Stampp

Stampp's classic work offers a revisionist explanation for the radical failure to achieve equality for blacks, and of the effect that Conservative rule had on the subsequent development of the South. Refuting former schools of thought, Stampp challenges the notions that slavery was somehow just a benign aspect of Southern culture, and how the failures during the reconstruction period created a ripple effect that is still seen today.

Praise for The Era of Reconstruction:

" . . . This "brief political history of reconstruction" by a well-known Civil War authority is a thoughtful and detailed study of the reconstruction era and the distorted legends still clinging to it."-Kirkus Reviews

"It is to be hoped that this work reaches a large audience, especially among people of influence, and will thus help to dispel some of the myths about Reconstructions that hamper efforts in the civil rights field to this day."-Albert Castel, Western Michigan University

Kenneth M. Stampp was an acclaimed scholar, teacher, and historian of the Civil War period. He is best known for The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South and The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, two books that staunchly challenged previous historians' romanticized depictions of slave-owner relationships and the state of the South during the Reconstruction. These works helped revolutionize the study of the period and remain staples of university classrooms. Stampp, who was the Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Berkeley, died in 2009.

"... [Kenneth M. Stampp] has woven the strands of a complicated story, and given the radical Reconstructionists a fair hearing without oversimplifying their motives. That this book is also excellent reading will not surprise those who know Mr. Stampp's other distinguished works about the Civil War."

-- Willie Lee Rose, The New York Times Book Review

"... [Mr. Stampp] knows his specialty holds vital information for our own time, and he feels an obligation to give it general currency, especially the Reconstruction years 1865-1877 where dangerous myths still abound. The result of his concern is this lucid, literate survey... Because he is not afraid to state opinions and to draw contemporary parallels, he has provided considerable matter for speculation, especially in regard to the ultimate cause of Radical failure to achieve equality for the Negro..."

-- Martin Duberman, Book Week

"... Carefully and judiciously, Professor Stampp takes us over the old ground, dismantling one myth after another."

-- Virginia Quarterly Review