Reconstruction Revisionism

Revisionism Revisionists rejected the Dunning School, which believed Reconstruction was taking jobs from qualified whites and giving them to unqualified blacks, who were being used by “carpetbaggers and scalawags.” Revisionists instead focused on economic greed by northern businessmen In recent years, “neoabolitionist” revisionism has become a standard school of thought

Revisionists Charles A. Beard (November 27, 1874 – September 1, 1948) Author of “The Rise of American Civilization” Born in Indiana to a wealthy family Graduated from DePauw University, and received his graduate degree from Oxford, and his doctorate from Columbia University. Howard Beale (April 8, 1899 - December 27, 1959) American historian, specializing in 19th and 20th Century American history Born in Chicago, graduated from the University of Chicago Completed his M.A. as Harvard University Kenneth M. Stampp (12 July 1912 – 10 July 2009) Born in Wisconsin Worked a lot of small jobs during the Great Depression to save money for school Received his B.A., M.A., and Ph. D from the University of Wisconsin, Madison

William Appleman Williams (June 12, 1921 – March 8, 1990) Born in a small town in Iowa Earned a degree in Engineering from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis Served in WWII Earned a masters and PhD from the University of Wisconsin- Madison John Hope Franklin ( January 2, 1915 – 25 March 2009) Born in Oklahoma and gained his doctorate in history from Harvard Author of “From Slavery to Freedom,” in 1947 Eric Foner (born February 7, 1943) Born in New York City Earned a B.A. and a PhD from Columbia University Author of “Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877”

Charles A. Beard The leader of “progressive historiography” Believed that economics were the reason for controversies Saw ideology as a product of “economic interests” Author of “Rise of American Civilization” (1927)

Howard Beale Was a ‘student’ of Charles Beard Like Beard, believed that economics were behind the failure of the Reconstruction Believed Reconstruction was an attempt by financiers, railroad builders, and industrialists in the Northeast to control the government for their own economic gain.

Kenneth M. Stampp Author of “The Era of Reconstruction,” Believed Reconstruction to be a success Author of the “Peculiar Institution,” which counters the argument that slavery is a benign institution that promotes harmony by asserting that the African Americans actively resisted slavery.

William Appleman Williams Instead of writing on the spread of freedom, he wrote on the spread of an empire after the civil war “The cause of the Civil War was the refusal of Lincoln and other northerners to honor the revolutionary right of self-determination…”

John Hope Franklin A ‘neoabolitionist’ historian Discusses the role of former slaves during the Reconstruction effort Argued that the Reconstruction failed because whites created a movement to restore white supremacy

Eric Foner Author of “Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877” (1988) Also a ‘neoabolitionist,’ argued that the Reconstruction was never completed

How the Reconstruction has changed Revisionists came about largely in response to the Dunning School of thought ‘Dunningites’ viewed the Reconstruction as a failure, revisionists see it as something praiseworthy Some revisionists say there needs to be a ‘Second Reconstruction’ Revisionism offers different interpretations of the past