First Freedom: The Responses of Alabama's Blacks to Emancipation and Reconstruction (Contributions in American History)

Book by Kolchin, PeterIntroductionIFor many years, when most historians wrote about blacks duringReconstruction, they depicted a topsy-turvy world in which igno¬rant freedmen, only a stage or two removed from barbarism,wreaked havoc upon the civilized South. Some of these historiansbelieved that Negroes were members of a naturally interior racewhile others suggested that they were not yet ready tor equality,but all of them saw Reconstruction as a tragic era in which the“bottom rail was on the top.” The questions they asked aboutNegroes during Reconstruction were “did they behave them¬selves properly,’’ and “if not, why not?’ I he usual answer to thefirst question was that there were both good darkeys and uppityniggers throughout the South. I he answer to the second questionwas that there would have been little trouble had not self-seekingNorthern whites — the proverbial outside agitators — descendedon the South and, for their own nefarious purposes, aroused thenaturally submissive Negroes to unnatural thoughts and actions.1 Crucial changes occurred during the years following the Civil War as blacks manifested their desire to live as independently as possible and to reject every social relation reminiscent of slavery. This classic study of the history of post-slave societies helped to initiate historiographic trends that remain central to the study of emancipation.

About the Author:
Peter Kolchin is Henry Clay Reed Professor of History at the University of Delaware