On Rewriting Reconstruction History
Author(s): Howard K. Beale
Source: The American Historical Review, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Jul., 1940), pp. 807-827
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Historical Association
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ON REWRITING RECONSTRUCTION
HISTORY1
FOR many yearsboth Northerners
and Southernerswho wroteon
by
Reconstruction
were dominatedby sectionalfeelingsstillembittered
the Civil War. Men of thepostwardecadesweremoreconcernedwith
justifyingtheirown positionthan theywere with painstakingsearch
a Southfortruth.Thus HilaryHerbertand hiscorroborators
presented
ern indictmentof Northernpolicies,and Henry Wilson's historywas
Northern
a brieffortheNorth.Few Southerners
werewritinghistory.
historianslong acceptedthethesisof Radical RepublicansthatRadicals
had savedtheUnion bytheirReconstruction
program,thattheirDemocraticopponentsweretraitors,
and thatAndrewJohnsonwas a drunkA much-neededrevisioncame at about the
ard and an incompetent.
turnof the century,
associatedprincipally
withRhodes and the"DunFor
ning school".
the firsttimemeticulousand thoroughresearchwas
carriedon in an effortto determinethe truthratherthan to provea
thesis.The emphasisof the Dunning schoolwas upon theharmdone
to the South by Radical Reconstruction
and upon the sordidpolitical
and economicmotivesbehind Radicalism.Rhodes and the Dunning
group drew a pictureof a South that-but foroutsideinterferencesuitedto thenew
mighthave made a happyand practicalreadjustment
social,economic,and politicalorder.Rhodes,however,whilecrediting
the President'sfaultsto weaknessratherthan to wickedness,yet acceptedthe older pictureof AndrewJohnsonand blamedhis mistakes
for much of the disasterthatovertookthe South. Then stillanother
group rehabilitated
Johnson.Dewitt rewrotethe storyof theimpeachmentas earlyas 1902.2 Schouler'slastvolume,whichappearedin 1913,
In thetwentiesa groupof historians
carriedtherevisionfurther.3
completed the processwith severaldetailedstudiesof Johnson'scareer.4
About the same timeBowersgave thepublichis rathersuperficial
but
1 Based on a paper read at a mcetingof the SouthernHistoricalAssociationoi
November
3,
1939.
2 David MillerDewitt,The Impeachment
and Trial of AndrewJohnson(New York,
I 903).
3 JamesSchouler,Historyof the UnitedStatesof Americaunderthe Constitution,
Vol.VII (New York,I913).
4 RobertW. Winston,AndrewJohnson,
Plebeian and Patriot(New York, 1928);
AndrewJohnson:A Studyin Courage (New York, 1936); George
Lloyd Paul Stryker,
FortMilton,The Age of Hate (New York,I930).
807
8o8
Howard K. Beale
widelyreadstudyof theperiod.5
His workwas basedon theserious
But it
studyof the revisionists.
It acceptedtheirreinterpretations.
pointof viewthatit
departedso farfromtheolderpro-Republican
Feelingthatthe
becamealmosta Democraticcampaigndocument.
historians
haveinitiated
pendulum
had swungtoofar,severalyounger
seemstostand
a newrevision.
As faras ithasgone,thislatestrewriting
uponsubstantial
ground.
Yetitspointofviewhasnotbecome"classic",
as theDunningreinterpretation
did.The ideasoftheDunningschool
period.
stilllargely
influence
writing
on theReconstruction
of
It would seemthatit is now timefora youngergeneration
whitesupreSouthern
historians
to ceaselaudingthosewho"restored
interests
to
macy"and insteadto beginanalyzingtherestorationists'
see justwhattheystoodforin opposingtheRadicals.Sucha studyof
someoftheRadicalleadersin
Reconstruction
willcertainly
rehabilitate
President
oftheUnitedStates
theSouth,evenas theequallydenounced
had
forwhomSumner
wasrehabilitated
a fewyearsago.A constituent
obtaineda Freedmen's
Bureauappointment
oncewroteSumnerfrom
I havedetermined
association
sixmonths
theSouth:"After
ofintimate
a saintbecause
on thestartling
thata manis notnecessarily
proposition
6 Even Northern
historians
would
black,nora devil,becausewhite."
Yet someof them
proposition".
universally
acceptthisonce"startling
In accepting
the
have approached
dangerously
nearto its converse.
havealmostinevitably
terms"carpetbagger"
and "scalawag"historians
names.
acceptedcertain
contemporary
biasesalongwiththesuggestive
of Reconstruction
without
Is it nottimethatwe studiedthehistory
thatcarpetbaggers
and Southern
first
at leastsubconsciously,
assuming,
werewicked,thatNegroeswereilliterate
incomwhiteRepublicans
and thatthewholewhiteSouthowesa debtof gratitude
to
petents,
of"whitesupremacy"?
therestorers
have already
Some younghistorians,
mostof themSoutherners,
to writehistory
in
answeredthisquestionaffirmatively
byproceeding
a new spirit.Justas Rhodes,Dunning,Dunning'spupils,and others
a servicea generation
of theDunningschoolrendered
ago bycareful
withan attitude
intopoliticalsourcesand bywriting
freed
researches
of theirfathers,
so another
newgeneration
fromthewar animosities
in terms
oftheeconomic
andsocialforces
hasbegunto retellthestory
thatlimited
theearlier
at workand without
group.
thepreconceptions
Of the Dunningschoolitselfa few,like MildredThompson,
Flem5 Claude G. Bowers,The TragicEra (Cambridge,Ig2g).
6 j. C. BeecherfromSummerville,
SouthCarolina,to CharlesSumner,OCt. 25, 1867,
SumnerMSS., LXXIV, WidenerLibrary,HarvardUniversity.
On RewritingReconstruction
History
809
ing,and Garner,
delvedintosocialand economic
life,thoughwithout
seeingitsfullimplication;
MissLonnand MissThompson,
toa certain
extent,and Garner,notably,
escapedfromthe restricting
framesof
reference
oftheothers.7
Yearsago AlexMathews
ledthewayin
Arnett
reinterpretation
of GeorgiaBourbons.8
Amongtheyounger
historians
to whomwe mustturnforreinterpretation
C.
areFrancisB. Simkins,
Vann Woodward,Horace Mann Bond,VernonL. Wharton,
Paul
Lewinson,
RogerW. Shugg,James
S. Allen.Andthere
isone,nolonger
young,W. E. Burghardt
Du Bois,whoseraceand socialphilosophy
givehiswork,BlackReconstruction,9
freshness.
Du Bois'svolumeis far
too wordy;it is distorted
by insistence
upon moldingfactsintoa
Marxianpattern.10
the Negro'sroleDu Bois has
Yet in describing
presented
a massof material,
thateveryfuture
hisformerly
ignored,
torianmustreckonwith.Allen'sapplication
to the
ofMarxiantheory
periodhas also forceduponthoseof us whodo notaccepthisgeneral
interpretation
certainimportant
modifications
of our own pointsof
view." Froma non-Marxian
pointof viewShugghas described
in
onestatetheclassstruggle
between
merchants
andplanters,
on theone
hand,andsmallfarmers
andlaborers,
on theother,
andhaspointed
out
thatthisconflict
beganin-ante-bellum
daysand continued
through
Populism.'2
Lewinson
pioneered
tenyearsagoinrestudying
theNegro's
a nativeMississippian,
placein Southern
history.'3
Wharton,
in a study
oftheNegroin hisstatefromi86oto I89o, haspresented
factsthatare
7 Ella Lonn, of course, like several othersof the group, was not a studentof
Dunning's,butshe is nonetheless
one of themostdistinguished
membersof the"Dunning
school".
8 The PopulistMovementin Georgia: A View of the "AgrarianCrusade" in the
Light of Solid-SouthPolitics(New York, i922).
9 New York, 1935.
10 Some Marxistswould disownDu Bois. Yet his interpretation
he owes to Marx's
influence.
Perhapsit would be fairerto Marx to call Du Bois a quasi-Marxist.
11 Recanstruction
(NewYork,I937).
12 Originsof Class Strugglein Louisiana: A Social Historyof WhiteFarmersand
LaborersduringSlaveryand after,I840-I875
(University,
La.,
I939).
Unfortunately,
thoughhe does an admirablejob in tracingtheclass struggleand itsimplications,
Shugg
merelymentionscasuallyin passingmany of the most important
factors,such as corruptionunderthe Conservatives
beforeRadicalscame intopower,therelationof business
to government,
the profitthatrespectable
Southernwhitesmade fromRadicalcorruption,
the failureof the Radicalsto accomplishimportant
social reforms,
and theireffectupon
education.This is a pitysincehe has broughtsuchfineunderstanding
to thedevelopment
of his major thesis.Furthermore,
by his failureto carryhis studyon throughthe days
of the restorationists
up to the full flowering
of Populism,he failsto shed the lighton
itselfthata comparisonof Bourbonconservatism
Reconstruction
with the Radicalismit
overthrew
would have made possible.
18Race, Class,and Party(New York, 1932).
8IO
HowardK. Beale
revolutionary
in theirsignificance
forReconstruction
history.'4
In a
mostprovocative
studyofAlabama,Bondhasrevealed
thedetermining
influence
thatbusiness
interests
exerted
uponthepolitical
struggles
in
thatstate.15
In hisstudyoftheGeorgiaBourbons,
whomhecalls"New
Departure
Democrats",
Woodward
hasbrought
understanding
towhat
has beena veritable
"darkage" in American
history."6
Simkinsand
Woody,in theirworkon stillanother
state,havebeenunusually
fairmindedtowardtheNegroand thewhiteReconstructionist
and have
showninterest
in socialand economicforces.'Simkins'sworkon
SouthCarolina,together
withhis varioussuggestions
of otherimportant
factors,
rankshimas a leaderinfundamental
reinterpretation.18
It is mypurposeto suggestfurther
studiesand changedpointsof
viewnecessary
to a fullunderstanding
of Reconstruction.
WhatI say
mustbe tentative.
It can merely
raisequestions
and suggest
workthat
needsdoing,foruntilmuchworkof thisnewersortis done,we shall
nothavethefactsfromwhichto generalize
withanyassurance.
on personsand to begin
First,we needto stoppassingjudgment
a fewmoreor
know
whether
to
It is notso important
forces.
studying
oriniquiwererighteous
a fewlesscarpetbaggers
orso-called
scalawags
forces
tousas it is to knowwhatsocialand economic
themto
brought
powerand motivated
them.Furthermore,
it is timeto stopdefending
or attacking
opponents
ofRadicalruleand to discover
whattheContheir
servatives'
interests
were and what forcesactuallycontrolled
actions.Our judgments
uponeithergroupare relatively
unimportant
An understanding
of thebewildering
in history.
complexity
of conand socialphenomena
flicting
interests
of thedayhasbeenlostin the
midstof historians'
proudor unconscious
partisanship
foror against
Radicals,Conservatives,
Negroes,scalawags,or restorers
of white
supremacy.
14 "The Negroin Mississippi,
MS. Ph.D. dissertation
I865-I890",
at theUniversity
of
NorthCarolina.
15Negro Educationin Alabama: A Studyin Cottonand Steel (Washington,I939).
See also "Social and EconomicForcesin AlabamaReconstruction",
Journalof NegroHisXXIII (July,
tory,
1938), 290-348.
16 Tom Watson,AgrarianRebel (New York, 1938), pp. 52-190. See also "Tom
IV (Feb., 1938),
Watsonand theNegroin AgrarianPolitics",JournalofSouthernHistory,
14-33, and an unpublishedarticle,"Bourbonismin Georgia",read at the 1937 meeting
of the SouthernHistoricalAssociationin Durham.
17 FrancisButlerSimkinsand RobertHilliardWoody,South CarolinaduringReconstruction(Chapel Hill, 1932);
Simkins,The Tillman Movementin South Carolina
(Durham, 1926).
18 See, e.g., his "New Viewpointsof SouthernReconstruction",
Jour.SouthernHist.,
V (Feb., 1939), 49-6I.
On RewritingReconstruction
History
8 iI
Secondly,
we can understand
Reconstruction
onlyifwe studyit in
itssetting.
MostSoutherners
havetreated
theReconstruction
periodin
American
history
as ifit wereSouthern
history,
whereas
eventhehistoryoftheSouthduringthisperiodcanbe understood
onlyas partof
as a
our nationalhistory.
We mustceaseconsidering
Reconstruction
isolated
heart-rending
storyof oppressed
and oppressing
personalities
Radical
in timeand space.For instance,
thecorruption
of Southern
legislatures
has beenusuallyattributed
to thepeculiarnatureof the
men
of Southern
who camesouth,thelackof character
Northerners
ofnewlyfreedNegroes.It seems
whosupported
them,and thenaivete
as causesof corruption
probablethatmoreimportant
werethesame
factors
thatat thesametimewerecorrupting
Northern
statelegislaTweedRingin New YorkCity,andcontures,thepurelyDemocratic
and members
of theGrantadministration
in Washington.
gressmen
It seemslikelythatthesamefactors
causedcorruption
thenthatcaused
it amongSouthern
rulingwhiteswhenin Van Buren'sdaynumerous
Southern
Democratic
land agentsstolepublicfunds.Publicoffice
has
undertheBourbons
beenusedto further
personal
interests
whothrew
friends
theRadicalsoutandinourowndaybytheconservative
ofbusiwho had
nesswhomHuey Long displacedand by Long'sfollowers
denounced
And thereareotherSouthern
theirpredecessors.
statesthat
willnotbe undercannotcaststonesat Louisiana.Radicalcorruption
stoodby thosewho insistthatit was a peculiarRadicalphenomenon
oftheperiodI868-77.19
Similarly,
theextravagance
ofRadicallegislatures
canbe understood
and
onlyas partof a nationalera ofexpansion
thataffected
Western
Northern
All of
states,Northern
cities,and theFederalgovernment.
"progthesewereusingpublicfundslavishly
and unwisely
to further
Southern
aristoress"
.2 So, too,haveotherAmericans
done-including
19 For instance,
undertheRadicalsattainedas serious
in Louisiana,wherecorruption
proportions
as anywhere,
of
Shuggpointsout thatin the Conservative
loyalistconvention
I864 therewas an "enormouswasteof publicmoneyby a bodyin whichneither
carpetbaggersnor corruptNegroeswerepresent".He ascribesthisin partto "the blundersand
to politicsto be well tutoredin themanagepeculations"of members"too unaccustomed
He concludesthatit is "important
mentof publicaffairs"(pp. 202-203).
to realizethat
no race,class,or partycould lay a virtuousclaim to clean hands" (p. 226).
20 In the bad situationin Louisiana Shugg again pointsout that,irrespective
of
party,"politiciansbribedlegislatorsfor partyand parishfavors,and businessmen and
bribed the politiciansfor economicprivileges".He quotes a congressional
corporations
reportthattestifies:
"The legislativecorruption
involvesbothparties.Amongtheprincipal
moversof legislativejobs were wealthy,influential,
and highlyrespectabledemocrats."
He cites GovernorWarmoth'stestimony
"on Democraticvotes for four railwaysubsidies" (ibid.). The pityis thathe did not investigate
thisfactorin his classstrugglewith
and finespiritthathe appliedto otheraspectsof thatclassstruggle.
thesame thoroughness
8I 2
Howard K. Beale
and Americans
cratsin Jackson's
day,Bourbons
afterReconstruction,
of all sectionsagainin the I920's. Writers
of Reconstruction
history
havefeltit unimportant
to studythecausesandeffects
in theSouthof
in deterthepanicof I873. Yet thesecausesand effects
wereimportant
miningthepoliticalhistory
of Southern
states.
Furthermore,
theinflux
of Northerners
intotheSouthneedsto be
separated
fromtheusualassumption
thatforNortherners
tomoveinto
theSouthwas somehowproofof viciousor vindictive
natures.
This
postwarmigration
mustbe studiedapartfromemotions
and as oneof
in our
thathavebeenimportant
themanymovements
of population
without
its
and
nationaldevelopment.
We needto study causes effects
advancemoraljudgment
on theparticipants,
justas westudytheWestof Southwardmigrations
themovement
at all stagesof ourhistory,
erners
intotheNorthwest
longbeforetheCivilWar,themigration
of
country
folkto cities,
ofFrenchCanadians
of Europeansto America,
to New England,ofSouthern
Negroesto Northern
citiesin thetwentiethcentury,
andofthousands
ofyoungwhiteSoutherners
ofourown
day to theNorth.Usuallythehopewas forbettereconomicopporwhocamesouthwerehonestcitizens
seektunities.
ManyNortherners
ing to contribute
to the well-being
of theirnew homelandthrough
activities
thatwouldhavebeenwelcomed
hadtheymovedwestinstead
ofsouth.Onlywhenwehaveceasedcondemning
themandhavestudied
theNortherners
who movedsouthand differentiated
themaccording
tothevariousmotives
andinterests
andtypestheyrepresented
shallwe
understand
theirpartinReconstruction.
critics
ofReconstruction
holdup
Manyof theseverest
governments
Southas America'snearestapproachto Utopia.We
theante-bellum
needtoremind
ourselves
constantly
thatitwasthisante-bellum
lifethat
had fastened
or inexperience
ignorance
uponmillions
ofwhit-sas well
andinexperience
thatcaused
as Negroesand thatit wasthisignorance
in
Radicals
were
North
had
when
The
and the
then
trouble
power.
ofmakingdemocracy
workamong
nationhas nowa similarproblem
and inexperienced
ignorant
people.Yet,in spiteofthelaborsofeducaof ante-bellum
tionalleaders,the wealthySoutherner
days,except
wherethepowerof poorermenforcedit on him,seldomrecognized
of eventhewhite
masses.2'Whenhe
theneedforgeneraleducation
21 Shugg, for instance,pointsout: "Nothingwas done to remedytheseconditions
[the inadequaciesof populareducation]becauseof the indifference
of wealthyplanters
and Creolestowardpopulareducation.Theirapathywas chiefly
forthefailure
responsible
of freeschoolsin Louisiana beforethe Civil War" (ibid., pp. 74-75). The ruralnature
of the South made schoolsmoredifficult
to establishtherethanin Northerntowns.But
On Rewritinq
Reconstruction
History
813
returnedto powerafterReconsruction
the rulingwhitewas niggardly
in providingeducationfor poor men. We cannotunderstandReconstructionwithoutrecognizingthepartthatignoranceand inexperience
playedin government.
Furthermore,the tendencyto cut Reconstruction
off from the
Civil War that precededit and the Bourbon and Populisteras that
followedhas led to misinterpretation.
No one would thinkof trying
to understandthe Confederation
periodwithoutrelationto theAmerican Revolutionand the Constitutional
Conventionand the Federalist
regime.We need to restudyas a wholetheperiodfromI850 to theturn
of thecenturyin orderto understandthesegmentof it thathas usually
beenboundedby theyearsi865 and i877.
that the Civil
Many of us have acceptedBeard's pronouncement
War was a revolution.Du Bois triedto applyit unqualifiedlyto the
period but failed because he did not comprehendthe importancein
who was neitherslaveowningnor
Southernlifeof the yeomanfarmer,
"poor white".And his effortto portraythe Negro and certainwhites
of the rural South as a typicalproletariatdistortedunfortunately
the
revolutionary
thesis.Yet, in spiteof Du Bois's misuseof it,thishypothesisof Beard's has validity.The revolutionary
hypothesis,
however,
mustnot be overdone.The periodwas complex.Manyof theactorsin
the revolutionwere unconsciousof it; othershad mixedmotives.Yet
beginningeven beforeI850 and extendingover severaldecades there
occurreda revolutionin Americanlife. The revolutionwas twofold.
dominantin the nationwas overthrown
An agrariangroupheretofore
by an industrialand urban interest.Simultaneouslyin the South a
Southwas not nearlyso
The ante-bellum
rulingorderwas overturned.
pure an aristocracy,
sociallyor politically,as contemporary
defense
would have one believe.Many regions
theoristsor later romanticists
folkor recently
self-made
werecontrolled
bymiddle-class
men; in many
places Jacksoniandemocracystill retainedstrength.The struggleof
yeoman farmerand laboreragainst planterand merchantthat culminatedin Populism had alreadybegun.22Nor was the post-bellum
a comparisonof Southernschoolswith schoolsin the old Northwestand even in the
of otherfactorsin
trans-Mississippi
West,also ruralregions,will indicatethe importance
had been made,but in most
the South. Southerners
repeatedly
pointout thatbeginnings
places those beginningswere largelyhopes for the future.School statuteswere often
Even wherelargeamountsof moneywere spent,the
ratherthanmandatory.
permissory
influenceof planterssometimes
got the moneyforplanterschoolsand leftotherpeople's
childrenunschooled.Historiansof educationhave too long boastedof statutory
enactmentsand have failedto look at schools-or lack of them.
22 See, e.g., Shugg'sstudy.
AM. HIST. REV., VOL. XLV.-56
814
Howard K. Beale
period thoroughlydemocratic,even under the Radicals.23Yet, with
properreservations
and qualifications,
it is stilltrueformanypartsof
the South thatcontrolby largeproperty
holdersof political,economic,
and sociallife,basedon slavelabor,was displacedbya moredemocratic
way of life,based on freelabor,and thatthischangenot onlyemancipated Negro slaves but gave poor whitemen a chance to seek more
politicalpower.24It is in termsof thistwofoldrevolutionary
hypothesis
thattheperiodneedsto be re-examined.
Historiansto whom politicshas seemed an all-engrossing
end in
itselfhave failedto comprehendthatthousandsof whiteSoutherners
duringReconstruction
wantednothingfrompoliticiansbuta chanceto
live their lives undisturbed.They were quietly going about the
stupendoustask of rebuildingthe South's shatteredeconomic and
social life and theirown fortunes.One reasonforthe defeatof Lee's
armiesin i865 was the war-weariness
of the people back home. Men
were tiredof war,of strife.They wantedpeace. They werewillingto
forgettheircause, cease arguingwith the North,take oaths of allegiance,even swallowtheirformerprides,ifonlytheycould have peace.
If we understandthis,it ceasesto be puzzlingthatthousandsof Southernersremainedpoliticallyindifferent
throughthe various turnsof
politicalfortune,
thatmanyaccommodatedthemselves
to Radical rule,
and that some supportedit. Some preferred
militaryrule to further
strife.To many it was the Radical personnelthatwas objectionable.
There were many white Southernerswho feltequal dislike for the
Ku Klux Klan and the Loyal League and forthe same reason.Many
Southernersfinallysupportedthosewho "restoredwhitesupremacy",
not so much because theycared who held officeas becausetheywere
23 Shugg pointsout thatin Louisiana the tendencytowardcentralization
put "imperial power" into the governor'shands underthe Constitution
of I868. Even herethe
authorities
Shugg citesmake one wonderif he has in thismerelytoo easilyacceptedthe.
judgmentof criticsopposedto Radicalpurposes.
24 Shugg pointsout that in Louisiana "the postwaryears"were "the seedtimeof
the labor movement"(ibid., pp. 300-30I).
Labor became important
in politics(ibid.,
pp. I98-99). Even underthe Conservative
rule of I864 therewere"no representatives
of
the old slaveholding
regime"in theconvention,
whichwas "in thehandsof a new order
of men with littleor no experiencein public life". "Debates revealtheirliberalintentionsbut not the educationof gentility.
They came froma socialclass whichhad never
beforebeen important
in Louisiana politics.The factthattheyoccupiedseatsof power
was of even greaterrevolutionary
significance
than the new organiclaw which they
compiled"(ibid., p. 203). "The fundamental
issue" in the electionof I864, saysShugg,
"was whetherLouisianashouldbe restored
to thecontrolof plantersand merchants
under
the old constitution,
or put in the handsof a majorityof loyalwhitepeopleundera new
organiclaw" (ibid.,p. I98).
On RewritingReconstruction
History
8I5
tiredof constantturmoilthat was injuriousto nonpoliticalpursuits.
ManySoutherners
opposedtoitsdemocratic
phaseweresympathetic
withtheindustrial
phaseof therevolution.
Thesemenwerereadyto
to businessinsupportJohnson
if theywerefriendly
governments
terests.
Theywouldsupport
Radicalgovernments
on thesameterms.
Andtheycouldas easilysupport
intheirturn.Reconstruction
Bourbons
can be understood
onlyiftheSouthern
movement
fordevelopment
of
industry
is treated
as a wholefromante-bellum
daysto thetwentieth
century.
The desireforindustrialization
and railroadbuilding,
manifestedin thecommercial
and in thelargegrantsof state
conventions
aid duringthefifties,
was notkilledby thewar.Manysaw a lesson
fortheSouthin thecontrast
between
Northern
and
wartime
prosperity
Southern
economic
weakness.
Not onlyin theNorthbutin theSouth
modernindustry
grewup behindthenoiseof politicalcontroversy.
Textiles,
coal,ironand steel,tobaccofactories,
railroads,
and millvillageswereas important
as loyalleagues,klans,and blackcodes,but
theyhavebeengenerally
ignoredby historians.
Therewerecharges,
evenbeforethewar,thatthenationalDemocracy
was sellingout to
business.
It is significant
thatduringwarGovernor
Joseph
E. Brown,
in thenameofstaterights,
opposedJefferson
Davis'sidealofa Southernnationality
and thatBrownwas on good termswiththeruling
groupduringthe Civil War, underJohnsonConservatism,
under
Radicalrule,and undertheBourbons.
His Radicalrecorddidnotpreventhis returning
to powerunderwhitesupremacy.
The keyto his
careerwas his interestin using politicalpower to favorbusinessde-
velopment
in generaland his own vestedinterests
in particular.
It
mattered
littlewhether
it was carpetbaggers
and Negroesor Bourbon
whograntedthefavorsto business,
politicians
justso thefavorswere
granted.
in Alabamathesamegroupof menwerepowerful
Similarly
enoughto get stateaid fortheirbusinessventures
fromante-bellum
planter
theConservative
governments,
Johnson
governments,
theRadical Republicans,
and the Bourbonswho restored
whitesupremacy.
Holdenin NorthCarolina,
too,needsrestudying
bysomeone
notprejudicedbyhissupport
oftheRadicalcause.
Historians
havebeenso busydenouncing
Radicalsthattheyhave
not bothered
to discoverwho profited
fromRadicalextravagancandfromlaterBourbon
rule.Certainly
fewNegroesprofited
personally.
SomewhiteRadicalsdid; manydid not.The wholedebtstoryneeds
revising.
Restudywill reducethe size of the debtin severalstates.
Mississippi
Radicals,forinstance,
wereforyearscredited
withleaving
8 i6
HowardK. Beale
a $20,000,000 debt.So respectablea personas CongressmanSt. George
Tucker firstgave currencyto this.JabethL. M. Curry,E. Benjamin
Andrews,and othersacceptedit as "fact".ActuallyRadicalscontracted
in Mississippionly a nominalcurrentsum of about $500,000,forthe
reason that the Radicals,over the protestof theirConservativeopponents,put a clause into the Constitution
of i868 forbiddingthe pledging of statefundsto aid corporations.25
In Alabama the Conservatives
claimed,and Flemingacceptedtheirclaim,thattheyreduceda debtof
$30,000,000
to less than$Io,ooo,00o. In realitypartof the $30,000,000
debt existedonlyin theircampaignchargesagainstRadicals.The portion theyreducedwas mostlypotentialdebtthatthe statemighthave
had to assumeon behalfof railroadshut in returnforwhichthestate
would, by foreclosure,
have come into the possessionof valuablerailroad properties.
The so-calledreductionof the debtwas broughtabout
not by paymentor repudiationbut by "adjustment"highlyadvantageousto the railroads,to whichBourbonleaderswere allied.26
Only a partof thedebtof any statewas contracted
forthechemises
and spittoonsthat have so intriguedhistorians.Past failureto collect
taxes and arrearsin paymentson financialobligationsplaced heavy
burdensupon thegovernments.
Extraordinary
expenditures
werenecesof a war-ruined
South.Bourbonseconomized
saryfortherehabilitation
by cuttingoff public services,such as education,importantto the
masses.
The largerportionof the debts financedgrantsor guaranteesto
railroads.Oftenthosewho restoredwhitesupremacyhad favoredcontractingsuch debts under Radical rule and under Bourbonrule continued to extend public aid to privateventures.In North Carolina
some of the"bestcitizens"profited
by thefloating
of theRadical bonds
that they and their party later repudiatedand their descendants
denounced.27
25 JamesW. Garner,Reconstruction
in Mississippi(New York, I9O1), pp. 320-23,
withWharton,who has used manuscript
and conversations
letters
dealingwiththesubject.
26 Bond,"Social and EconomicForcesin AlabamaReconstruction",
four.NegroHist.,
XXIII (July,I938), 336-46,and NegroEducationin Alabama,pp. 54-6I. Apparently
in
Louisianaa largeamountof moneywentforgraft,buteven therea considerable
amount
sponsoredbusinessventures.
Shugg,pp. 202, 225, 226-27, 229.
27 A. Ray Newsome,"Reportof an Investigation
of thePassageof theReconstruction
Bond Ordinancesand Actsof NorthCarolinaof I868 and I869" (1928), MS. reportin
the possessionof the author;conversations
withNewsome,I938-39; BenjaminU. Ratchford,"A Historyof the North Carolina Debt, I7I2-1900",
MS. Ph.D. dissertation
in
1932 at Duke University;
Cecil KennethBrown,A StateMovementin RailroadDevelopment (Chapel Hill, 1928).
On RewritingReconstruction
History
8I7
from
In Alabamathesamerailroadmenwereimportant
politically
theI850's to thedaysof whitesupremacy,
whatever
thepolitical
complexionof thosewhoheldtheoffices.
It is interesting
thatin Alabama
the Southern
namesof RobertPatton,JamesW. Sloss,Luke Pryor,
GeorgeHouston,AlbertFink,Sam Tate,V. K. Stevenson,
JohnT.
andJosiah
ofthe
Milner,
Morriskeeprecurring
in thatimportant
story
interrelationship
ofbusiness
andpolitics.
Morris,
a Montgomery
banker,
wieldedpowerbehindthescenes.Pryoras a member
ofthelegislature
in
forrailroadgrantsin I853-54 and was stillimportant
was working
who turnedrailroadand
thei88o's.Sloss,an ante-bellum
storekeeper
forseveraldecadeshad powerwithlegislators,
coal and steeloperator,
whether
Conservatives,
Radicals,or Bourbons.
Patton,a colleagueof
Sloss, as provisionalgovernorunder Johnson'splan advocated and
validatedthe bondsthatprovided$i2,ooo a mile forthe railroads
sponsored
by theSlossgroup.Then undertheRadicalshe was vicepresident
ofoneoftheSlossrailroads
thatbenefited
whentheRadicals
increased
thegrantfrom$I2,000 to $i6,oooa milein whatFleming
savagelycondemns
as "carpetbag
financiering".
One of thelobbyists
was an agentofRussellSage,butanother
was a leaderin thedevelopmentof Alabamacoal and ironand an agentof Morris,theMontbanker.28
In Alabama,theConservatives
leasedthepenitentiary
gomery
forprofit
andconvicts
outtobusinessmen
as in slavedays.TheRadicals
in I872.' In Mississippi
discontinued
thepractice
Johnson
Conservativesbeganthe convict-lease
GeneralGillem,undermilitary
system.
to one favored
rule,gavea contract
capitalist
thatcarriedalmostabsoovertheconvicts,
lutecontrol
mostofwhomwereNegroes.The Raditriedto destroy
thesystem.
The Bourbonrestorationists
cal governor
ittoextremes
untiltwoinvestigations
carried
finally
forced
itsabandonof I890.0
mentin theConstitution
meantthesupremacy
In Georgia"whitesupremacy"
ofthebusiness
interests
of Brown,Gordon,and Colquittovertheinterests
of thouwholaterrevolted
sandsof smallfarmers
underthePopulistbanner.
who reallyrepresented
Toombsand Stephens,
the Old South,saw,
thesignificance
of thepoliticalsituation
unlikelaterhistorians,
and,
28 Bond, lour. Negro Hist., XXIII, 313-48, and Negro Education in Alabama,
pp. 38-62.
2i [Alabama] Inspectorsof Convicts,FirstBiennialReport. . .to the Governor,
i886), pp. 351-53.
fromOctoberz, 1884, to Octoberz, s886 (Montgomery,
30Wharton, pp. 443-5I. Even afterI890, however,the use of convictsseems to
have continued"in illegal and irregularfashion"until the comingof Vardaman to
powerin 1904. Wharton
to H. K. Beale,Oct.23, 1939.
8i8
Howard K. Beale
opposedthese
led thePopulists,
alongwithWatson,whosubsequently
thebusiness
of
with
Brown
providing
supremacy".
Yet
"restorerswhite
fortheir
forreligion
toclaimGod'ssanction
acumen,
Colquittspeaking
the
heroin politics,
themilitary
activities,
and Gordonrepresenting
of"whitesupremacy"
wereabletc usethebanner
Bourbon
Triumvirate
theirbusinessinand Grady'ssloganof a "New South"to further
anduseNegro
terests.
And theywerereadytoretainNegroesin office
who
againstwhitefarmers
votesto maintain
their"whitesupremacy"
Indeedthereseemstohave
small-farmer
interests.31
organized
toprotect
been a striking
betweenwavingthebannerof "whitesusimilarity
shirt"
in theNorth.Bothwerewaved
premacy"
andwavingthe"bloody
outofoffice
partytoavoidbeingturned
simultaneously
bya dominant
for
whoobjectedto theuse of government
by a majority
of farmers
of business
groups.
furthering
theinterests
democratic
involved
substituting
The otherphaseoftherevolution
withintheSouth.Fromthepointof view
foraristocratic
institutions
thatwe had
of restoring
a happilyunitednationit was unfortunate
was made to
unfortunate
thatany attempt
RadicalReconstruction,
changedwaysof lifeupontheSouth.It is imimpose,fromwithout,
fromthepointofview
Reconstruction
portant,
alsotoconsider
however,
withinSouthern
revolution
life.From
ofpolitical,
social,andeconomic
treatedand
thispointof view,Southernplantersweregenerously
a defeated
thatoftenovertakes
rulingclass.
escapedmuchofthedisaster
A largepartof theirsuffering
directly
fromcivilwarand the
resulted
and economic
and would
of an established
overthrow
system
political
had therebeenno Radicalreconstruction
or Republican
haveoccurred
theRussianRevolution,
rule.In thepresent
revolution
in Germany,
and to somedegreein our own American
the FrenchRevolution,
Revolution
members
of theold regimewere"liquidated"
privileged
or drivenout,and theirproperty
-wasconfiscated.
In theSoutha part
oftheolderplanter
wastemporarily
ofitspolitical
deprived
aristocracy
butit was notdeprived
meansofitsproperty
or
bypolitical
privileges,
WhyweretheSouthern
itslife.It was notdrivenoutofitshomeland.
so gentlydealtwithin revolutionary
change?
leadingfamilies
muchfurther
studyoftheperiod.It liespartly
The answerrequires
in
in theNorthern
Radicals.Theyhaveusuallybeenlumpedtogether
strikingly
different
Actually
theyrepresented
praiseor condemnation.
and a
onlyby certaincommoninterests
pointsof view,tiedtogether
commondesireto retainpowerfortheirparty.Thad Stevensand
31 Woodward,Tom Watson, pp. 52-72.
On RewritingReconstruction
History
8I9
CharlesSumneragreedwiththebusinessmen
whobackedthepartyin
wantinga hightariff,
whichtheSouth'sreturn
mightendanger.
But
Stevensand Sumnerwereidealists
in theirconcern
fortheNegroand
humanrights.
Stevensat leastwas genuinely
a radical.He wantedto
confiscate
planterproperty
and divideit amongNegroes.The Republican partyneverseriously
considered
this,because,whileit would
haveservedcertain
partypurposes,
themajority
ofRepublican
leaders
and partymembers
had nottheleastinterest
in socialrevolution,
even
in a distantsection.Theyweremenof property
who wouldnotendangerthesanctity
of property
rightsforNegroesor poorSouthern
whitemenanymorethantheywoulddivideownership
oftheirown
factories
or farmswithNorthern
workingmen.
Thereweresighsof
Northern
reliefwhendeathremoved
Stevens's
radicalism.
troublesome
The Negrowantedforty
acresand a mule,buthisRepublican
backers
had no seriousthought
of turning
politicalintosocialand economic
revolution.
We need studiesof theNegrounderReconstruction
in thespirit
of Bell IrvinWiley'sstudyof the Negro in the Confederacy
and
VernonWharton's
"Negroin Mississippi"
before
we cananswermany
questions
thatarise.32
Our picture
of himis unfortunately
coloredby
theracialprejudices
ofcontemporaries
whodeemedevenfundamental
Negrocivilrightsand politicalactivity
unspeakable.
Even Simkins
and Woodyin theirexcellent
bookneverquitegotawayfrominstinctive assumption
thattheirrace mustbar Negroesfromsocialand
economicequality.It is timeto forget
feelings
abouttheNegroand
studyReconstruction
to see whattheNegroreallywas and whyhe
did notgainmorefromReconstruction.
Fairminded
will
investigation
disclosethatfewRepublicans
probably
or responsible
Negroes,
evenat
theheightof Negroand carpetbag
rule,carriedtheirinsistence
upon
and
political,
civil,
educational
equalityoverintoattempts
at social
mingling.33
JamesLynch,forinstance,
whilesecretary
of state,and
32 Wiley,SouthernNegroes,i861-i865 (New Haven, 1938). AlrutheusA. Taylor's
books on the Negro in Virginiaand South Carolina duringReconstruction
were significantas pioneerwork by a Negro but, like the older historiesby whitehistorians,
leave muchto be desired.
33 Shugg thinksthat in Louisiana the Radical stand for Negro equalityand the
Southernwhite'sbeliefthat civil rightsfor Negroes would mean miscegenation
were
disastrousto the Negro and Radical causes. Yet the Negro leadersclaimedthat"social
equalitymeantnothingmore to the intelligent
Negro than the rightof any man, whatever his color,to come and go in publicplaces,and to pursuehis own happiness,provided he did not infringethe equal rightof another.. . . There was no thoughtof
racialintermarriage,
even amongthe uneducated,but onlyof the admissionof freedmen
820
Howard K. Beale
JohnR. Lynch while congressman,submittedto Mississippi's"Jim
One Marxian writer
Crow" cars and restaurantswithoutprotest.34
roleof the
chargedme with accepting"uncritically
. . . the traditional
Negro",35because I said "plantationhands were not onlyilliteratebut
'had no conceptionof . . . the meaningof termslike government,
morality,suffrage,
or even freelabor."'"36 Yet this seems true nonetheless.On the otherhand, many more Negroes were educatedand
able than one would have thoughtpossibleso soon afterslaveryand
more thanhistorianshave led us to believe.Whartonmade a number
of interesting
discoveriesabout the relationof the two racesin Mississippi.37For instance,carpetbaggers
frequently
dislikedtheNegro.They
avoided social contactswith him. They "made littleeffortto conceal
their distastefor him". Federal troopsoftensided with Democrats
againstNegroes.Radical Republicanswere not eager to do more for
Negroes than "to grant them the franchiseand solicittheirvotes".
of
"Even in the minority
The Negroes did not demand manyoffices.
thefreedmen
counties. . . [that]had Negro and Republicanmajorities,
were "a
seldom obtained many offices."The twelve Negro sheriffs
moderatelysatisfactory
group,mostof whom were at leastcapable of
can be
exercisingthe functionsof theiroffice.. . . Little difference
of their countiesand that of the
discoveredin the administration
local leadersof Negroes
countiesunderDemocraticcontrol."Efficient
rapidlydevelopedall over the state.Of thesix Negroeswho held high
office,four were men of ability,leadership,education,and integrity,
who did the statehonor; two were obscurelocal politicians,
one intelligent and educated but both dishonest.The Negroes favored,and
Revels,a Negro,supportedin the UnitedStatesSenatetheremovalof
whitepoliticaldisabilities.Many Negroes workedwell underthe new
at leastuntilthecrop
laborsystem.A good manysucceededas farmers,
a formerslave,rented
failureof I867 ruinedthem.Ben Montgomery,
and thenboughtthe Davis plantationsand took nationalprizeswith
his cotton.His son establisheda prosperousall-Negrotown.38
to civil societyso thattheymightbe freeto walk thestreets,
frequentpublicinstitutions,
attendschools,and appearin courtsof law like othercitizens"(pp. 222-23).
34 Wharton,pp. 427-30.
35 RichardEnmale in the "editor'sforeword"of Allen's work,page Io.
36 Howard K. Beale, The CriticalYear (New York, 1930), pp. I86-89.
37 Some of these thingsare alreadyknown to recentstudentslike Lewinson,but
theyhave not yetfoundtheirway intothe pictureusuallydrawnof Reconstruction
even
by historians.
38 Wharton,pp. 66-70, I06-107, 250-52, 275-78, 285-33 I.
On RewritingReconstruction
History
82I
Supposeslaveowners'
estateshad beendivided?We readmuchtodayfromSouthern
whitesin support
oftheviewthatthepoorerSouthernwhitemancannotimprove
hislotuntiltheNegro'slotis improved
H.
alongwithit. AndrewJohnson,
Wade Hampton,and Alexander
Negroesthe
Stephenswantedto giveeducatedand property-holding
suffrage.
Supposethat,on somesuchplanas theDawesandBurkeacts
forIndians,theNegrohad beengivenlandand thenhadbeentreated
as a ward? Supposehe had graduallybeen givencontrolof land
distributed
to himas he becameeconomically
Suppose
experienced?
as he
thanmerely
nominalcitizenship
he had beengranted
realrather
upon
individually
becamecompetent?
Whatwouldhavebeentheeffect
theNegro?Upon theSouth?Upon theproblemof farmtenantry?
equality,
Fromthepointofviewof theRadicalaim,ofevenpolitical
was theNegronotrightin hisdesireforforty
acresand a mule,and
werenot his whitefriends
unrealistic
in thinking
theycouldsecure
a basisforthemineconomic
rights?
political
privileges
forhimwithout
Wereupper-class
Southern
whitestrying
oflabor
toworkouta system
toNegroesas wellas towhites?
desirable
fortheSouthandsatisfactory
Or werethey,in formulating
theirNegropoliciesand in demanding
in their
whitesupremacy,
merely
determined,
likeNorthern
capitalists
to keepfortheirown benefit
a plentiful
laborpolicies,
supplyof dependent,
ignorant,
docileworkers?
And whatof thepoorerwhiteman?Werehis interests
reallyopenposedto thoseof the Negro,or is thisjust anothershibboleth
couragedby menwhoseinterests
wereopposedto bothNegroesand
Bourbonleadersweremotivated
in partbythe
smallwhitefarmers?
of
toward
socialfactor
thattheracialprejudice whites
Negroescreated;
theydid sharewithmanypoorerwhitemendislikeof Negrorule.
alsoembodied
back
theconservative
swinging
Yet Bourbonsupremacy
of thependulumthatfrequently
has followedtheexcessesof revoluwithmenof businessand
tion.Planterssharedthe new aristocracy
the Radicals,the
were oftendominated
by them.In overthrowing
thatservedbadly
Bourbonsfastened
upon the Southa government
ofpoorerwhitemenwhohadfora timeappeared
tohave
theinterests
a chanceofobtaining
years
greater
political
power.It tookthePopulists
to winbacksomeofthedemocratic
lostin Bourbonrestoraprivileges
maintained
tion.In manycasestheBourbons
control
overa majority
of whitemenbyraisingfearoftheNegroand at thesametimeusing
whitemajorities
elseNegro votesin blackcountiesto overbalance
to allow Negroesto holdoffice.
where.For a timetheycontinued
822
Howard K. Beale
thattheyhad perof elections
Manyof thesamedevicesforcontrol
in thefaceof Negromajorities
whitesupremacy
fectedin regaining
whitemajorities.
tousetoretainpoweragainstPopulist
theycontinued
in the
was important
The ireof poorerwhitesthusarousedprobably
Crow"
"Jim
of
strengthening
and
the
Negroes
of
disfranchisement
in the
in moststatesoccurred
laws,bothof which,be it remembered,
of whitesupremacy
notwiththerestoration
and nineties,
lateeighties
ofthisPopulist-Bourbon
We needtostudytheorigins
in theseventies.
to see whatitsbearingon politicsand
in Reconstruction
controversy
was.
conflicts
economic
in
somestrength
developed
usuallyignored,
movement,
A Granger
What commoneconomicinthe South.Why was it not stronger?
have?Whydid theyfailto unite
did Negroand whitefarmer
terests
in the face of commoneconomicenemies?39In some
successfully
oftheRadicalelectorate.
majority
states
Negroeswerean overwhelming
fromtheeighties
on in North
at least,andprobably
Butin Tennessee,
In North
a majority
of theRepublicans.
Carolina,whitesconstituted
of theperiod
all theassemblies
Carolinawhitescouldhavecontrolled
Evenin Missishadsomewhitesnotjoinedblacksagainstotherwhites.
Forinstance,
Negroesin popularassemblies.
sippiwhitesoutnumbered
onlyi6 Negroesin a
Convention
of i868contained
theConstitutional
6o-couldhaveconwhites-about
of IOO. The Southern
membership
of
had 33 of themnotsidedwiththeminority
trolledtheconvention
ofblacksand
Whydid thisco-operation
Negroesand carpetbaggers.4
Georgia,North
whitesforcommonendsbreakdown?In Arkansas,
whitesoutnumTexas,and Virginiaregistered
Carolina,Tennessee,
beredregistered
Negroesevenin i868.If the old thesisholdsthat
nativewhiteswerealmostsolidagainstRadicalrule,whydidnotthese
Radicalrule?If theywerenotsolidagainst
prevent
whitemajorities
of whitesdisqualified
Radicalrule,whyweretheynot?The number
beenexaggerated,
thoughthatnumberinfromvotinghas probably
indicatesthat it was the racial issue that broke the
39Shugg's analysis(p. 30I)
and drovethe
movementof small farmersand laborersagainstplantersand merchants
formerinto the camp of the latter.He shows,for instance,thatin I865 Negroesand
whitesjoined in a commonlabor movement.In a strikein thatyearthe opponentsof
labortookpains to dividewhiteand Negrolabor.When theRadicalswerefinallyturned
and whitelaborershad
out it was because,underfearof Negrodominance,whitefarmers
joined with people of theirown race who were theirclass enemiesagainstpeople of
who wereof anotherrace.
theirown classinterests
made byWhartonafterthorough
40 Wharton,pp. 265-66.These figuresare estimates
to get information
aboutall membersof sucha body.
It is difficult
investigation.
On RewritingReconstruction
History
823
?41
How manyweredisqualified
cludedmanyoftheSouth'soldleaders.
A good manyeligiblecitizensdid notvote.Was it becauseof careto sue
boycott,
or unwillingness
lessness
aboutregistering,
indifference,
forpardonortakeoathsofloyalty?
We needto restudy
Reconstruction
in each state,freedfrompreand determined
conceptions
of therightand wrongofReconstruction
exerted.
Carpetto discover
Reconstruction
justwhatlastinginfluences
moderates,
BourRadicals,
Conservatives,
baggers,
Negroes,Southern
all needcareful
laborers,
bons,businessmen,
variousclassesoffarmers,
theirrelationto
purposes,
economicinterests,
analysisas to motives,
upon
ofRadicalruleand itsoverthrow
Reconstruction,
and theeffects
of
theirinterests.
We needto reanalyze
theRadicals,theIndependents
these
andeighties,
and thePopulists
toseetowhatextent
theseventies
of Negroesand whites
threegroupsthattriedpoliticalco-operation
The originof moderninduswerepartsof a commonmovement.
over
of themodernfarmproblem,
of thepowerof business
trialism,
all needinlaborproblems,
of Southern
Southern
stategovernments,
The South'srelationto cropfailures
suchas theone in
vestigating.
movement,
immigration
to theWestward
I867, tobusiness
depressions,
the nationallabormovement,
the antimonopoly
crusade,
restriction,
study.
An analysis
phenomena
requires
Grangerism,
andothernational
of theromanticism
in artand literature
thatappearedin theSouth
would probablyexplain
and just afterward
duringReconstruction
boththenandnow.
muchaboutSouthern
attitudes
towardthisperiod,
ofRadicalgovernments.
We need
We knowfullwelltheshortcomings
to knowmoreof theiraccomplishments.42
For instance,
theconstitutionsdrawnup bytheRadicalslongoutlivedtheRadicals.Theyconfeatures.
administainedmanyinteresting
Theytendedto centralize
thejudiciary
and thetaxingsystem.
trativepower.Theyremodeled
through
troubled
Not onlydid theRadicalscarryon thegovernment
roads,
publicbuildings,
times,theydid a good deal towardrestoring
Theyestablished
bridges,
schools,and courtsthatwar had destroyed.
new socialservices
and wouldhaveestablished
thembetter
had they
in administration.
The openingof schools,
not been inexperienced
and otherpublicagenciesto Negroesputa newburdenupon
courts,
41 See William A. Russ, jr., "CongressionalDisfranchisement,
i866-i898" (MS.
Ph.D. dissertation
at the Universityof Chicago), pp. 107-14, and "Registration
and
Disfranchisement
under Radical Reconstruction",
MississippiValley HistoricalReview,
XXI (Sept., I934), I63-80.
42 Shugg thinks that in Louisiana Radical reformswere "conspicuousfor their
absence"(p. 225). In somestatestheywereimportant.
824
Howard K. Beale
government,
as did theincreased
reliefproblemand theoversight
of
new racialrelationships.
This all tookmoney.That meantincreased
taxes,particularly
upon land. Furtherinvestigation
but
is necessary,
thereis evidencethattheincreased
taxesrequiredforsocialservices
werean important
cause of the tax-paying
resentment
elements'
of
Radicalrule.Even thenew taxeswerestillnothigh.But Southern
property
ownerswerenoteducated
topayingforservices
forpoormen.
The taxpoliciesandpublicservices
oftheRadicalsandBourbons
need
comparing.
Bourbons
sometimes
merely
shifted
burdens
administrative
fromstateto county,
creatingan appearance
of economythatwas
notreal.43WhereBourbonsdid reduceexpenses,
was it notoftenat
highcostin humanvalues?
Radicaladministration
needsreappraising.
Therewerebad spots,
but therewerealso good. We have heardtoo littleaboutthegood
underRadicalsand too littleof thebad underConservative
administrations
thatpreceded
andfollowed
them.SouthCarolinasuffered
from
dishonest
officials.
Somestates,
however,
wereas welladministered
by
Radicalsas at anyothertimeduringthisera.Honesty
and dishonesty
werenot monopolies
of anyone group.In Mississippi,
forinstance,
Garnerpointsout that"therewereno greatembezzlements
or other
casesof misappropriation
during. . . Republican
rule".In thewhole
post-bellum
periodhe foundonlythreecases:a Republican
of
treasurer
the Natchezhospitalwho took$725i,, a coloredlibrarian
who stole
books,and a Democratic
nativewhitetreasurer
whoembezzledmore
grandlyto theamountof $61,962.44 A restorationist
Democrat,
however,electedin I875, madeawaywith$3I5,6I2.45 In NorthCarolina
starvedthe schoolsuntilAshley,the superintendent,
Conservatives
resigned.
ThentheRepublican
governor,
Caldwell,
appointed
Alexander
and honestman... keenlyanxioustobuildup the
McIver,"a sincere
schools".To succeedMcIver,Governor
Caldwell,in thefaceof pressurefora political
appointment,
choseKempP. Battle,
a muchrespected
educator.
In I874 theConservatives,
on theotherhand,electedto the
43 For instance,in Mississippistatetaxes in I875 under the Republicanswere 9?/4
millsand countytaxes ioY4 mills.In 1877 underthe Democraticrestorationists
thestate
taxes were reducedto 5 mills,but the countytaxeswere raisedto I6. This meantthat
actuallythe Democratsincreasedthe totalstateand countytax burdenfrom20 to 21
mills and yet,accordingto Wharton,gave no bettergovernment.
Whartonto H. K.
Beale,Oct.23,
1939.
44 Pp. 322-23.
45Wharton,pp. 329-30. Withoutspeciallyseekingthem,Whartonhas run across
severalothercases of "Bourbonembezzlement".
Whartonto H. K. Beale, Oct. 23, 1939.
History
On RewritingReconstruction
825
StephenD. Pool, who stolePeabodyFund money.
superintendency
politicalapBrogden,
thenchoseanother
governor,
The Conservative
a cousinof thedefaulter.48
pointee,
Was the Southerndislikeof Radicalrulecausedby bad governin it
and Negroparticipation
mentor ratherby dislikeof Northern
wouldnothavelikedeven
good or bad? ManySoutherners
whether
imposiidealconditions
oflifeso longas theyowedthemtoNorthern
To whatextentwas dislikeof Northgenerosity.
tionor to Northern
to
opposition
ernerswhohad beatenthemin wara causeofSouthern
in
usuallyportrayed
werethefactors
Radicalrule? How important
racial
was unadulterated
of Radicalrule,and howimportant
criticism
ifNegroeshad
Utopianconditions
thatwouldhaveresented
prejudice
need
factors
partin them?47These emotional
playedan important
and analysis.
measurement
underReconThereareno adequateunbiasedstudiesofeducation
weremade.The upheavalofcivilwarhad
Manyblunders
struction.48
as therewere.At bestthe
systems
alreadyinjuredsuchante-bellum
oftheNegrothat
It tookexperience
to teachfriends
taskwas difficult.
valuablethan
was
more
vocational
training
Negro
average
for the
thatRadicalsimposedmixed
One oftengetstheimpression
cultural.
ofoneortwo
How oftenoutside
Negroand whiteschoolseverywhere.
fellfar
was
done?
Educational
accomplishment
states
thisactually
in theirconstitushortof thetheory
of thelaws.Yet theRepublicans
of a freeschool
tionsdid givemanywhitementheirfirstassurance
writing
How muchbenefit
to theNegrowas theRepublican
system.
law? We needto restudy
of Negroeducationintothefundamental
to seehowoftenthenewtheories
To what
becamerealities.
education
didRadicalsimprove
schooladministration?
How manyschools
extent
46 J.G. de RoulhacHamilton,Reconstruction
in NorthCarolina(New York,I914),
pp. 6II-I9.
47 Shugg believesthatin Louisiana "at firstneitherrace was solidlyunitedagainst
the other,nor were the spoils of officetheironly concern".He writes:"Carpetbaggers
and thecontrol
forthepossessionof richnaturalresources
foughtplantersand merchants
were defeatedbecause theyturnedfrom
of black and white labor. The carpetbaggers
preyedupon whitesmorethanblacks,and arrayedall
economicto politicalexploitation,
classesof the formerrace againstthelatter.The finaltriumphof plantersand merchants,
which
with the essentialsupportof whitefarmersand laborers,was a counterrevolution
firstof white,and thenof black,labor,to
crushedthe bewilderedand abortiveattempts,
rule the stateand mold societyin theirown images" (p. 197).
48 The authorcannotexceptEdgar Wallace Knight'sInfluenceof Reconstruction
on
Educationin the South (New York, 1913). What we need, both beforeand afterthe
not
Civil War, underRadicalsand Bourbons,is a studyof actualeducationalconditions,
basedon statutes
enacted.
a listingof arguments
826
Howard K. Beale
did theybuild?How manyteachers
did theyhire?How manymen
did theybegineducating
whohad nothad schoolsbefore?It is upon
cut
theanswersto suchquestions
thattheymustbe judged.Bourbons
schoolexpenses.How muchinjuryto the schoolswas wroughtby
Bourbon"economy"?
We haveevidence
thatin at leastonestateitwas
twenty
yearsbeforeschoolsbeganto recover
fromBourbonneglect.49
In howmanyotherstateswas thistrue?It is interesting
thatin North
Carolina,wheretheirschoolrecordwas notgood,theoftdenounced
Radicalstriedto restore
theante-bellum
andextenditto
schoolsystem
Negroes;schoolssuffered
grievously
underthe Bourbons;another
Republicangovernor,
Russell,twentyyearslater,championed
the
Did the Radicalsor theirBourbonsuccessors
schools.50
do greater
injuryto theschools?Was it the'Radicals
or theCivilWar thatdestroyedante-bellum
To what degreedid Radical
accomplishment?
legislation
lay the foundations
of futureeducational
advancement?
Finally,someof theRepublicans
triedto establish
a moredemocraticpoliticalsystem.
Againtheyblundered.
It tookmorethanthe
ballotto makeintelligent
citizens
outofignorant
Negroesand whites.
Negrovoterswereignorant,
and
In slavery
childlike, inexperienced.
theyhadbeenkeptso bytheSouthern
whonowcriticized
slaveowners
themfortheseveryqualitieswhenNegroesdid theirnotveryable
Butmanywhites
besttoplaytheroleofcitizens.
alsowereignorant
and
inexperienced
in democracy.
Someof themostcondemned
aspectsof
RadicalReconstruction
weremerely
themanifestations
ofa democratic
in a regionhabituated
toaristocratic
revolution
control.
Therearestrikingsimilarities
between
scenesenactedin Southern
capitals
andthatin
at Jackson's
In bothcases"thepeoplecameinto
Washington
inaugural.
theirown".The experience
withsuddendemocratization
was nota
happyone. It couldnothavebeenhappyevenhad theNegroesbeen
excludedfromit. It shouldbe remembered
thatthe Southerners
whooverthrew
theRadicalsshowedthemselves
as unwilling
to share
49 For instance,StuartGraysonNoble, who, accordingto Wharton,has made the
only intelligent
studyof Mississippischools,concludes:"The schoollaws, passedby the
of expenses.Theycertainly
of I876, had in view the curtailment
legislature
did nothave
in view the wreckingof the publicschoolsystemand theabandonment
of Negroeducaof the systemwas greatlyreduced"
tion. Yet, as a resultof theselaws, the efficiency
New York, I9I8, p. 48). Noble points
(FortyYears of the PublicSchoolsin Mississippi,
out that the schoolsfor whitesresumedprogressagain only after189o and that the
untilafterI900.
did notbecomeimportant
progress
50It was Aycock,of course,successorto Russell,who firmly
established
NorthCarothatRussellfoughtforschoolsas one
lina's schoolsystem.But it shouldbe remembered
when schoolswere not a popularcause.
of the chiefaims of his administration
On RewritingReconstruction
History
827
powerwithpoorwhitemenin Populistdaysas withpoorNegroes
of the
and whitemenin Radicaldays.Was nota partof theoffense
Radicalleadersthattheysoughtto servetheinterests
ofpoormen?5'
raisedagainst
foroffice
evidences
ofunfitness
One ofthemostpersistent
theRadicalsbyhistorians,
evenbySimkins
andWoody,is thefactthat
Radicalsweremenwhodid notpaytaxesand did notownproperty;
in short,
thattheywerepoor.The Populists
triedforyearsto establish
democratic
and succeededonlyslightly
institutions
betterthanthe
Radicals.No, theRadicalattempt
to establish
democracy
was nota
success.ButtheConservative
save
whitesolution
hasbeenlittlebetter,
a
forproperty
owners.It has kepttheNegroin hisplacebycreating
and docile
caste system.It has keptmillionsof whitesdependent
politically
by keepingthemdependent
economically
as millworkers
and tenant
comfarmers.
Butithasnot,through
schoolsandeconomic
petence,yet made the poorerwhitemen adequatecitizensof the
democracy
we all like to feelwe believein. Here in the BourbonRadicalconflict
is thedilemmaof democracy
or,indeed,of anyform
of government.
One alternative
seemsto be ruleby non-tax-paying,
menwhoseekto servetheinterest
non-property-holding
ofa majority
or
butthrough
serveit badly.The otheralterinexperience ignorance
nativeseemsto be ruleby menof property
whohavetheexperience
and knowledge
necessary
to servethemajority
efficiently,
butwhose
interests
makethemchooseto servetheirownminority
groupinstead.
Throughthoughtful
studyof theconflict
of idealsundertheRadicals
and Bourbons
we mightattainthewisdomto discover
a thirddemothatwouldavoidbothof theusualalternatives.
cratictechnique
HOWARD
The University
ofNorthCarolina.
K.
BEALE.
51 So littledid Bourbonpoliciesservepoor men's interests
thata few yearsof their
rule led to a greatrevoltof Populistsand Alliancemenagainstthemin behalfof small
farmers
and poormen.