Customer Reviews

Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First BlackCongressmen

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first history, to the best of my knowledge which addresses the careers of the first African American congressmen who attempted to fulfill the notion of post civil war democracy and equality as embodied by the 13th 14th and 15th Amendments. It is a study that is long overdue.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar once observed that "some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them and others lived through the Reconstruction." (He might have added the so-called Redeemer period as well when whites disenfranchised African American citizens as well). What this book demonstrates is the exceptional nature of all of the men who represented their constituencies in the South after the Civil War until they were denied representation for nearly 80 years.

This book chronicles many exceptional individuals, but perhaps my favorite is Robert Smalls. Again and again I kept asking "why have I not heard of him before?" Smalls was a war hero, who delivered the steamboat "Planter" to Union hands. Smalls managed to desegregate Philadelphia street car lines and served many years, until he was gerrymandered out of congress by whites who refused to permit African Americans the right to vote, no matter how many ways it took to undermine the law, constitution, and fundamental documents like the Declaration of Independence.

Just as there are heroic seekers after freedom like Smalls, Blanche K. Bruce, Robert Brown Elliot, P.B.S. Pinchback, Hiram Revels, Alonzo Ransier, John Roy Lynch, there are also villain who people this remarkable book. Many of white Republican figures who sought to create a more equal post-Civil War south tended to fold their tents and decamp for more hospitable parts of the country when they encountered resistance (in this way they reflected the national Republican Party, increasingly less vigilant after 1876). However, it would not be a misstatement to award Ben Tillman, an unapologetic racists as the most disagreeable and evil figure in this narrative. Through his efforts, African Americans lost all political power and the United States was a poorer place.

This is a wonderful book and aside from acquainting the reader with remarkable and overlooked characters from American history, it also serves to destroy the myths of the Reconstruction created by Claude Bowers and James Ford Rhodes in their mean-spirited histories. At last justice is done!

History fans, if you thought you knew much of what there was to know about Reconstruction-read this. It'll send you running back to the woodshed...er..library.

This book goes in to great detail about the men that made Reconstruction in major states such as Mississippi, and South Carolina, and Louisiana, where Blacks were in the majority of the population. Think the Civil Rights movement started with Rosa Parks and Dr. King? As early as the 1870s, Robert Elliott and Rev. Richard "Daddy" Cain were fighting for equal accomodation. Learn of the nation's First Black Governor-Pinckney Pinchback-who served in Louisiana in 1873! We all know of a certain Black Senator who electrified the nation with an amazing speech on race relations and national unity, right? Guess what-Hiram Revels of Mississippi did this over 130 years before a certain presidential candidtate of Kenyan and Kansan heritage.

The book is filled with excellent detail as Philip Dray has painstakingly gone through newspapers, perosnla papers, and testimonies of that era in a readable and enjoyable fashion.

Books like this are why I've always said that libraries and bookstores are the best sources for information outside of the school houses. Learn and enjoy!

Imagine going out for Chinese food with a group of friends? You can almost taste how good its going to be. And, then you find it is closed and you are left with a Japanese restaurant, which happens to be just as good! That's the way I feel about this book. Let me explain.

I got Capitol Men because, with the ascendancy of Barrack Obama to the Presidency, I thought a look at the lives of the first generation of African American would be appropriate and interesting. What I got, though, was not so much that as a look at Reconstruction and its aftermath in the form of the so-called "Redemption". Don't get me wrong, many black political figures are in there from Robert Smalls, "Big Daddy" Richard Cain, Blanche Bruce, John Roy Lynch, and many more. But some are barely discussed. Hiram Revels comes to mind. And, there is very little information as to how their lives in Washington was conducted, how they participated in the legislative process, and the lives they experienced there.

What is contained in the book is not an insider's look at Nineteenth Century Washington, but a deep and introspective look at the reaction of Southern White society to evolving roles for black Americans, the North's flagging committment to the requirements of emancipation, and the reaction of Black leaders to "facts on the ground." This is not an uplifting tale. If you are not touched by the unending suffering and this dark stain on this nation's history, you are not really comprehending the epic tale that Phillip Dray is relaying.

Well written and well explained, this book is a real page-turner of an epic struggle that is, in many ways, still unresolved. Dray moves seemlessly through explanations of legal cases, such as the Slaughterhouse cases, Cruikshank, and Plessy v. Ferguson, into discussions of the Colfax County massacre, the "Mississippi Plan", the "Exodusting" movement, and the horrible marginalization of African-Americans in the South. If some of these things aren't readily recognizable, they will be after you read this informative look at the period. A fascinating subject and a masterful story teller- what more could one want?

So, what you are left with is not a biography of Black political leadership and their experiences in Washington, but a great tale of Reconstruction and "Redemption" in the tradition of Eric Foner. It may not be what the cover of the book suggests, but this is one "bait and switch" that I really enjoyed.

Great detail about the personal and private lives of the first black congressmen of the United States. Their many trials and tribulations as well as their few hard-fought victories are captured here. Also explores the actions of courageous whites who were as committed to 'equal rights' as the ex-slaves-turned congressmen; the lineage of the Ku Klux Klan and night riders; the huge migration of southern blacks from the south to Kansas during post-reconstruction; the sad departure of the air of willingness in America and the birth of Jim Crow and separate but equal.

The edgy but descriptive sections concerning white southen ire and outright hate towards the black congressmen and the federal government alone are worth the Pulitzer Prize for which the book was nominated.

Excellent acknowledgement section and bibliography provide you with an excellent jumping-off point to do your own research.

This book details the rise to power of the first Black congressmen during Reconstruction. It is not commonly known that Black people could vote immediately after slavery. The author gives a portrayal of men who were not shackled by negative stereotypes and refused to believe the dominant attitudes in society about Black capabilities. They lived by the creed of "The content of their character".
Some were consummate politicians in the best sense of the word. They were men of brilliance, perseverance, and courage. They succeeded against all odds and serve as a great beacon of what can be done despite fierce racial prejudice.

Exhaustively researched and very well written, Capitol Men is an especially fine history of Reconstruction. The author, Philip Dray, focuses on the contributions and trials of a number of southern black politicians--most of whom spent at least some time on Capitol Hill--while still presenting a comprehensive, detailed, and chronological account of the era.

If you have already read Eric Foner's opus, you will no doubt find Capitol Men complementary; if you have not, you need not if you read Capitol Men--it covers the ground as well as Foner does, only from a somewhat different perspective.

A concise written historical depiction of african american men who were former slaves given the experience to serve as legislators at the highest levels of government in our nation overcoming incredible odds and obstacles.

I really am giving this book a 2 star, not a three. I absolutely dislike Mr. Dray as a historian. I decided to read this book because I thought it was about the black men who played an integral part during the Reconstruction period. However, the title of the book is a trick. The book occasionally talks about the men. He includes historical figures that have nothing to do with these men.

His writing style is incredibly boring. However, I continued to read hoping to learn more about the Black Reconstructionists. To my annoyance, as I was approaching the two hundredth page, he began a section on Susan B. Anthony. I threw the book on the floor. I was livid. I don't give a fig newton about Susan B. Anthony. I picked up Dray's book because I was led to believe I would learn more about the black men of the Reconstruction era. What a freakin' con!

The only thing I appreciated about what I did read was his section of the Lieutenant Governor, Oscar Dunn. I became aware of him by reading a historical romance novel by Beverly Jenkins that discussed Dunn's suspicious demise.

This is the second book of this author's I have attempted to read and have had the same reaction. He lures you in thinking you are going to be educated about a subject, then he is all over the place discussion people, places, and things that have nothing to do with the subject at hand. He is the personification of the African American folkloric trickster - Bruh Rabbit. We, the readers, are the animals in the woods being bamboozled.

I would suggest you secure a copy of his book from the library and read it before buying it.

I personally do not recommend this book.

New book was as described, and received prior to published receipt date. I am thoroughly satisfied with Amazon.