The Doom of Reconstruction: The Liberal Republicans in the Civil War Era (Reconstructing America) [Hardcover]

Andrew L. Slap (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 082322709X | ISBN-13: 978-0823227099 | Publication Date: February 15, 2007 | Edition: 4

In the Election of 1872 the conflict between President U. S. Grant and Horace Greeley has been typically understood as a battle for the soul of the ruling Republican Party. In this innovative study, Andrew Slap arguesforcefully that the campaign was more than a narrow struggle between Party elites and a class-based radical reform movement. The election, he demonstrates, had broad consequences: in their opposition to widespread Federal corruption, Greeley Republicans unintentionally doomed Reconstruction of any kind, even as they lost the election. Based on close readings of newspapers, party documents, and other primary sources, Slap confronts one of the major questions in American political history: How, and why, did Reconstruction come to an end? His focus on the unintended consequences of Liberal Republican politics is a provocative contribution to this important debate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Slap offers an engaging and well-researched narrative that differentiates between the prolonged evolution, development, and political machinations of the liberary republican movement and the Liberal Republican Party.

For a nuanced treatment of how liberal Republicans' beliefs evolved and drew on classical republicanism, and a clear narrative of the tangled intrigues in the Cincinnati convention, [Slap] can't be bettered.

. . . A fine and necessary study.

About the Author

Andrew L. Slap is Assistant Professor of History, East Tennessee State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press; 4 edition (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082322709X
• ISBN-13: 978-0823227099
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,588,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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