West from Appomattox : the reconstruction of America after the Civil War / Heather Cox Richardson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richardson, Heather Cox.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877).

National characteristics, American.

Political culture--United States--History--19th century.

Political culture.

Middle class--United States--Political activity--History--19th century.

Middle class.

United States--Politics and government--1865-1900.

United States.

United States--History--1865-1898--Biography.

United States--Social conditions--1865-1918.

Physical Description:

xi, 396 p. : ill., maps.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The story of Reconstruction is not simply about the rebuilding of the South after the Civil War. Instead, the late nineteenth century defined modern America, as Southerners, Northerners, and Westerners gradually hammered out a national identity that united three regions into a country that could become a world power. Ultimately, the story of Reconstruction is about how a middle class formed in America and how its members defined what the nation would stand for, both at home and abroad, for the next century and beyond. A sweeping history of the United States from the era of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, this engaging book stretches the boundaries of our understanding of Reconstruction. Historian Heather Cox Richardson ties the North and West into the post-Civil War story that usually focuses narrowly on the South, encompassing the significant people and events of this profoundly important era. By weaving together the experiences of real individuals-from a plantation mistress, a Native American warrior, and a labor organizer to Andrew Carnegie, Julia Ward Howe, Booker T. Washington, and Sitting Bull-who lived during the decades following the Civil War and who left records in their own words, Richardson tells a story about the creation of modern America.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One. Spring 1865: The View from the Civil War

Chapter Two. 1865-1867: The Future of Free Labor

Chapter Three. 1868-1871: Conflicting Visions

Chapter Four. 1872: A New Middle Ground

Chapter Five. 1873-1880: Years of Unrest

Chapter Six. 1881-1885: Years of Consolidation

Chapter Seven. 1886-1892: The Struggle Renewed

Chapter Eight. 1893-1897: The Final Contest

Chapter Nine. 1898-1901: Reunion

Epilogue

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [351]-388) and index.

ISBN:

9786611735289

9781281735287

1281735280

9780300137859

0300137850

OCLC:

1024020247