A Dangerous Stir: Fear, Paranoia, and the Making of Reconstruction (Civil War America) - Softcover

Summers, Mark Wahlgren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1469620154 ISBN 13: 9781469620152

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014

Synopsis

Reconstruction policy after the Civil War, observes Mark Wahlgren Summers, was shaped not simply by politics, principles, and prejudices. Also at work were fears--often unreasonable fears of renewed civil war and a widespread sense that four years of war had thrown the normal constitutional process so dangerously out of kilter that the republic itself remained in peril.

To understand Reconstruction, Summers contends, one must understand that the purpose of the North's war was--first and foremost--to save the Union with its republican institutions intact. During Reconstruction there were always fears in the mix--that the Civil War had settled nothing, that the Union was still in peril, and that its enemies and the enemies of republican government were more resilient and cunning than normal mortals. Many factors shaped the reintegration of the former Confederate states and the North's commitment to Reconstruction, Summers agrees, but the fears of war reigniting, plots against liberty, and a president prepared to father a coup d'etat ranked higher among them than historians have recognized.

Both a dramatic narrative of the events of Reconstruction and a groundbreaking new look at what drove these events, A Dangerous Stir is also a valuable look at the role of fear in the politics of the time--and in politics in general.

About this title

Book Description

"This critical interpretation of Reconstruction examines its political framework but quickly moves beyond politics into the pulsating realm of conspiracy and fear mongering. Author of numerous important books on nineteenth-century America, Summers has again provided a provocative and penetrating analysis of an extremely significant period of U.S. history. A Dangerous Stir is undeniably a must and stirring read!"--Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln, Burroughs Professor of Southern History and Culture, Coastal Carolina University

From the Inside Flap

Summers argues that reconstruction policy after the Civil War was shaped not simply by politics, principles, and prejudices, but also by fears--often unreasonable fears of renewed civil war and a widespread sense that four years of war had thrown the normal constitutional process so dangerously out of kilter that the republic itself remained in peril. Many factors shaped the reintegration of the former Confederate states and the North's commitment to Reconstruction, Summers agrees, but the fears of war reigniting, plots against liberty, and a president prepared to father a coup d'état ranked higher among them than historians have recognized.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1469620154
• ISBN 13: 9781469620152
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 342