Composed by the leading historians in the field, this single-volume encyclopedia on Reconstruction delivers the most concise, focused, and readable reference work available to educators and students. In many ways, the Civil War destroyed the American South, the Democratic Party, and slavery, with much of the nation left in ruins. What was to become of former slaves-and of former confederates? Yet the unprecedented turmoil that followed the war presented the United States with great opportunities. How America tried to solve the problems and take advantage of opportunities after the Civil War is the focus of this encyclopedia, which provides the core elements necessary for researching and understanding the complex period in U.S. history known as Reconstruction. The volume offers a concise introduction to and chronology of the Reconstruction period, scores of entries composed by subject experts, and an appendix that features key primary documents. The entries have been carefully chosen for their importance and relevance, are written in language accessible to high school students, and supply useful references for further investigation. This volume will be indispensable for research into Reconstruction and affords anyone studying the United States during this period insight and perspective, whether the topic be African American history, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, or the coming of sharecropping. Provides a concise, easy-to-read resource ideal for high school history students and general readers covering the key actors and events of the Reconstruction Era Includes an introductory essay that gives readers a clear framework for understanding the events, important individuals, laws, and issues of the Reconstruction from 1863 through 1877 Enables readers to understand how the events of Reconstruction set the stage for greater advances by African Americans educationally, politically, and socially decades later Supplies entries written by the premier historians and researchers active today that reflect the latest in scholarship on the subject matter

This A-Z encyclopedia provides carefully selected entries covering the people, events, and concepts relevant to Andrew Johnson's life. Andrew Johnson was-and is-an American paradox. He never attended school, yet fought for public education. He was a Southern slaveholder who opposed secession and enforced emancipation. Born into poverty, he became the 17th president of the United States-and the first U.S. president to be impeached. This new volume thoroughly examines the troubled career of our most unpopular president-not to resuscitate his reputation, but because his personal contradictions reflected those of his country: a democratic nation conceived in liberty, yet existing half slave and half free; an economy of yeoman farmers and independent artisans being swept into industrialization and a market system; a country fond of tradition, but caught up in social, economic, and political revolution. More than 350 entries cover the five decades of Andrew Johnson's successful career, from 1828-1875 Selected original documents include the Articles of Impeachment, speeches, proclamations, vetoes, and letters

This is a chronicle of postwar resistance in the Palmetto State. ""State of Rebellion"" recounts the volatile course of Reconstruction in the state that experienced the longest, largest, and most dynamic federal presence in the years immediately following the Civil War. Richard Zuczek examines the opposition of conservative white South Carolinians to the Republican-led program and the federal and state governments' attempts to quell such resistance. Contending that the issues that had driven secession - the relationship of the states to the federal government and the status of African Americans - remained unresolved even after Northern victory, Zuczek describes the period from 1865 to 1877 as a continuation of the struggle that began in 1861. He argues that Republican efforts failed primarily because of an organized, coherent effort by white Southerners committed to white supremacy. Zuczek details the tactics - from judicial and political fraud to economic coercion, terrorism, and guerrilla activity - employed by conservatives to nullify the African American vote, control African American labor, and oust northern Republicans from the state. He documents the federal government's attempt to quash the conservative challenge but shows that, by 1876, white opposition was so unified, widespread, and well armed that it passed beyond government control.