Category Reconstruction
I Saw Death Coming
Here’s Professor Kidada Williams discussing her work on white supremacist terrorism during Reconstruction. The video’s description reads, “Wayne State University professor Kidada Williams talked about the daily existence of formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction. This program was hosted by the Ann Arbor Public Library in Michigan.” https://www.c-span.org/video/?525877-1/i-death-coming
History With David Rubenstein: Manisha Sinha
Here’s an excellent discussion with Professor Manisha Sinha on Reconstruction. The video’s description reads, “Historian Manisha Sinha discusses the historical significance of America’s evolution during the period of Reconstruction following the Civil War, which saw a transformation of the American nation from a slaveholding republic into an interracial democracy, all alongside the rise of industrial […]
Southern Unionism During the Civil War
Dr. Clayton Butler and Dr. Brian Neumann discussed southern unionists during the Civil War era in this panel discussion at the University of Virginia, with Professor Elizabeth Varon moderating. This is a really good discussion. The video’s description reads, “In the 1860s, not everyone in the South supported the Confederacy. Authors Brian Neumann and Clayton […]
Civil War by Other Means
This is a pretty good presentation on white supremacist violence after the Civil War presented by Professor Jeremi Suri. The video’s description reads, “University of Texas at Austin professor Jeremi Suri examined the white supremacist resistance in the years after the Civil War. This event was part of the annual Wisconsin Book Festival held in […]
The 1873 Colfax Massacre Was a Racist Attack on Black People’s Democratic Rights
I came across this article from the late Professor Gwendolyn Midlo-Hall and Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt on the 1873 Colfax Massacre. “The worst episode of Reconstruction Era violence occurred 150 years ago … in northern Louisiana. The 1873 Colfax Massacre saw white supremacists slaughter 150 African Americans, brutally thwarting their hopes for autonomy and self-governance. […]
The Nation That Never Was
This book by Kermit Roosevelt III is very thought-provoking. He tells us there is an official story about the Founding of the United States, but, “The official story does not hold together. Something else is going on. And race has a lot more to do with it than we were told.” [pp. 4-5] He tells […]
The Last Lincoln Republican
Here’s Benjamin “Todd” Arrington discussing his book, The Last Lincoln Republican, about James A. Garfield. The video’s description reads, “If President James Garfield had not been assassinated, would he have pursued post-Civil War Reconstruction policies intended by Abraham Lincoln? Benjamin Arrington addressed that question in a virtual talk hosted by the White House Historical Association. Mr. Arrington is […]
The Abolitionist’s Journal
Journalist James Richardson discusses his book, which is the journal of his ancestor, George Richardson, an abolitionist who participated in the Underground Railroad, served as a chaplain in a USCT regiment in Tennessee, and after the war taught in a school for freed people in Texas. He makes a couple of, let’s say questionable, statements, […]
The Record of Murders and Outrages
This short book from Professor William Blair discusses the effort by the US Government, primarily the Freedmen’s Bureau, to document the racist terrorism inflicted by former confederate soldiers and other white southerners against African Americans and white Republicans in the former rebel states. As he writes, “The thousands of pages that makEve up the records […]
PBS “The Neutral Ground”: The Lost Cause
This excerpt from the PBS program, “The Neutral Ground,” looks at the beginnings of the lost cause lie. You can access the video here.
Student of the American Civil War 
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