Reinterpretations of Reconstruction of the American South - Essay Example

? Reinterpretations of Reconstruction Introduction The aftermath of the American Civil War was a troubled time for the American South. The group of states formerly known as the Confederacy were teeming with tensions of an ethnic and parochial variety and reeling with the economic consequences of a disastrous and expensive war. Further aggravating the situation was the fact that the wounds of defeat were still fresh in the collective psyche of White Southerners and these wounds were deepened with the rising political and economic power of their Northern conquerors (referred to as carpetbaggers) as well as their former slaves. The above mentioned scenario, as well as the events that followed in the attempted reconstruction of the American South by the Republican Party, were catalogued by several historians, with each historian instilling their own perspective into their recording of events. For the purposes of this paper an elucidation of the views of the views of four historians and their texts will be provided. These include: Reconstruction by Thomas Wilson, The Negro in Reconstruction by Carter Woodson, The Ordeal of Reconstruction by Thomas A. Bailey, and Reconstruction: Unfinished Revolution by Mary Beth Norton. Overview The views expressed by the different authors are to an extent the products of their particular time and prevalent historical school of thought and as such are reflective of it in terms of the language used. Each text is also characterized by the amount of words dedicated to each issue depending on the particular perspective of each author. Wilson is generally extremely critical of the Northern carpetbaggers and derisory of the competence of the “negroes” while being wholly sympathetic to the plight of the Southern White. Woodson on the other hand, is focused primarily on the role of the “Negroe” and in attempting to absolve him of the corruption and mismanagement that plagued the era. Bailey highlights the incompetence and illiteracy of the “negroes” while painting a bleak picture of the government and policies of time, keeping in line with the other authors. Norton, is perhaps the only author to portray reconstruction and the Northern immigrants in a positive light, while being highly critical of the role of the Southern White gentry. Carpet Baggers Thomas Wilson in his piece Reconstruction places the blame for the failure of reconstruction solely on the carpetbaggers or opportunistic Northern immigrants and dedicates the majority of the piece to the exploitative activities of the above. Wilson states: “These men, mere “carpet baggers” for the most part, who brought nothing with them, and had nothing to bring but a change of clothing and their wits, became the new masters of the blacks.” Wilson’s implication here is that all Northern immigrants were “carpet baggers”, individuals who had little wealth to offer the South and instead came to exploit its resources. There is no mention of Northerners who may have possibly arrived to assist in the improvement of the conditions of African Americans. Another inference that can be drawn from the above statement is that Wilson had beliefs that the “carpet baggers” were perpetuating the system of slavery, albeit indirectly by manipulating the “blacks. Carter Woodson while taking a critical view of the role of the “carpet baggers” also accepts that some of them did have principled intentions: Referring to the “carpet baggers” he states: “They were in many respects selfish men, but not always utterly lacking in principle.” However, he does acknowledge that much of wholesale corruption during the era was a result of the greed of the “carpet baggers”: “Being adventurers and interested in their own affairs, the carpet baggers became unusually corrupt in certain states.” Thomas Bailey is for the most part silent on the role of “carpet baggers” but he does state: “Graft and theft ran wild, especially in states like Louisiana and South Carolina, where designing whites used naive Negroes as cats-paws.” One can assume that Bailey may have been indirectly referring to the “carpet baggers” as “designing whites”. Norton in stark contrast with the other authors has a fairly positive opinion on the “carpet baggers”, she attributes the negative perception of the northern immigrants to the extensive propaganda employed by the Southern conservatives. She saw the northern immigrants more as idealists, she felt that most of the “carpet baggers” who immigrated to the south had no political aims and that: Those who did enter politics generally wanted to democratize the South and introduce Northern ways.” However, Norton recognizes that many “carpet baggers” were involved in corruption. Negroes Wilson’s portrayal of “negroes” is largely as that of unwitting pawns ripe for exploitation by the “carpet baggers”: “They gained the confidence of the negroes, obtained for themselves the more lucrative offices.” Wilson also felt that the “negroes” gained very little from their alliance with the “carpet baggers”: “For the negroes there was nothing…” Woodson’s focus was primarily centered on dispelling certain myths about “Negro rule” such as allegations of illiteracy, incompetence and corruption. He states: “The charge that all Negroes were illiterate, ignorant of the science of government, cannot be sustained.” He goes on to add that: “Negro illiteracy had been reduced to 79.9 by 1870.” However, he does admit that many “negroes” were “decidedly disqualified” for office and that many did indulge in corruption but that the brunt of the corruption was done by Whites both Southern and Northern and that “Most Negro officers who served in the South came out of office with an honorable record….” Bailey’s representation of the Negro during construction is almost entirely derisory and attempts to highlight the incompetency and illiteracy of the “negroes”, to not only rule but to carry out basic functions of an emancipated citizen with rights of suffrage. He uses the example of the newly freed slaves unaware of their surname or age as well as a verse from a “negro” song which used incorrect (by traditional standards) grammar in order to further stress negro incompetence: “De bottom rail’s on de top And we’s gwine to keep it dar.” He does however attribute some positives to the “Negro White Legislature” in terms of the reforms they introduced. Norton chooses to focus on the enthusiasm of the black voter and how they overcame illiteracy to vote for their preferred candidates, who in turn brought the Republican Party to power in the South: “Thanks to a large black turnout and the restrictions on prominent Confederates, a new southern Republican party came to power in the constitutional conventions of 1868-1870,” She is also highly complementary of the Black officials that served in the various reconstruction governments at the time. Corruption & Financial Mismanagement According to Wilson, corruption during the reconstruction era was almost entirely undertaken by the northern “adventurers” or “carpet baggers”. Wilson felt that excessive taxation was another method of overburdening the southern white and destroying the economy of the south. He further goes on to state that: “Taxes, of course, did not suffice. Enormous debts were piled up to satisfy the adventurers …. Treasuries were swept clean…” Woodson like Wilson accepts that acts of corruption were committed by “carpet baggers” as well as “negroes”. However, he is of the view that the accusations of negro corruption were primarily a means of propaganda and that: “The very persons who complained of corruption in the Negro carpet-bag governments and who effected the reorganization of the State governments in the South when the Negroes were overthrown, however, became just as corrupt as the governing class under the previous regime.” Bailey refers to “designing whites” who “used naive Negroes as cats-paws.” We can infer that by “designing whites” Bailey was pointing towards the carpet-baggers and scalawags. He notes that “Graft and theft ran wild” during the era. Norton was of the opinion that the heavy taxation was a necessity to “maintain traditional services”. She does however, accept that: ”Many carpet baggers and black politicians engaged in fraudulent schemes, sold their votes or padded expenses…”. She also notes that while both parties indulged in corruption the blame was pinned exclusively on “unqualified blacks” and “greedy carpet baggers” belonging to the Republican Party. Ku Klux Klan Wilson attributes the rise of the Ku Klux Klan on the policies of the Negro carpet bag government and on the southern whites need for “self preservation”. While he does admit that the Klan “took the law into their own hands” and used “ways of violence and outlawry”, Wilson largely portrays the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light as the oppressed fighting back or as he puts it “to right a disordered society through the power of fear.” He uses many glowing terms of admiration for the organization such as “roving knights” charged with the protection of the southern country. Woodson felt that the Ku Klux Klan was a manifestation of the inability of southern white society to “tolerate blacks as citizens.” He saw the Ku Klux Klan as having been “established to terrorize the Negroes with lawlessness and violence.” Bailey’s rationale for the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan is similar to Wilson’s, he feels that “once-decent southern whites” were forced into taking “savage measures”. Like Wilson he also displays a certain degree of reverence when recounting the Ku Klux Klan’s activities and while he does not use the glowing terms used by Wilson he was of the opinion that black resistance to the Ku Klux Klan was foolish: “But those stubborn souls who persisted in their forward ways were flogged, mutilated, or even murdered.” He does however; describe these practices as “atrocious”. Norton feels that the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan provided the “deathblow” to reconstruction efforts. She describes in detail the various activities of the organization in their attempt to prevent Republicans from campaigning in the south and to discourage Blacks from voting or becoming involved in politics: “Nighttime harassment, whippings, beatings and murder became common, and terrorism dominated some counties and regions…” Conclusion Reconstruction has been a controversial subject for historians and there have been many different schools of thought that have evolved on the matter. Most prominent among these were the Dunning School of historians that dominated the historical narrative of reconstruction in the early 20th century and were extremely critical of the Republican attempts at reconstruction (Bradley 268). Examples of the above may include Thomas Wilson and Thomas Bailey. In the latter half of the 20th century the Neo-abolitionist school of historians emerged, which considered Reconstruction as noble albeit unfinished aim (Bradley 268). Mary Beth Norton can be considered to be a proponent of this school of thought. To conclude it is important to assess all texts with a degree of impartiality and to keep in mind and understand the authors biases which will inevitably exist in any historical text. Works Cited Bailey, Thomas. The American Pageant. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1966. Print. Bradley, Mark. Bluecoats & Tarheels: Soldiers and Civillians in Reconstruction North Carolina. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2009. Print. Norton, Mary Beth, et al. A People and a Nation. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. Print. Wilson, Woodrow. A History of the American People. New York: Harper and Bros, 1906. Print. Woodson, Carter and Charles Wesley. The Negro in Our History. Washington D.C: The Associated Publishers Inc, 1922. Print. Read More