Reconstruction

With Jamelle Bouie and Rebecca Onion

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About the Show

The era of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War was our best chance to build an American democracy grounded in racial equality. Its failure helps explain why race, “states’ rights,” and the legacy of the Confederacy remain central themes in our politics today.

Don’t miss Rebecca and Jamelle’s previous podcast, The History of American Slavery.

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7: How We Remember the Experiments

The historiography that helped white supremacy survive the collapse of the Confederacy.

6: How the Experiments Ended

A coup in North Carolina.

5: Experiments in Self-Defense

The federal government’s legalization of racial violence after the Civil War.

4: Experiments in State Politics

How corrupt was politics in the Reconstruction era?

3: Experiments in Civil Rights

How the Supreme Court failed to protect Black Americans’ hard-won rights of citizenship during Reconstruction.

2: Experiments in Local Government

The freedmen and Radical Republicans who managed to win power in local governments during Reconstruction.

1: Experiments in Land Owning

How freedpeople pursued the dream of land ownership during Reconstruction, and how they were denied.

0: A Political History

A guide to the key events that defined America from 1863 through 1883.