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State of Rebellion: Reconstruction in South Carolina

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State of Rebellion focuses on Reconstruction from the point of view of native white Carolinians. Most local studies of Reconstruction during the past fifty or so years have focused on the experiences of former slaves, white northern immigrants, or white supporters of the Republican party. Most of these books also study Reconstruction from the perspective of it being a failure to secure rights for blacks or maintain Republican governments. Zuzcek looks at Reconstruction as being a success for white southern resistance. South Carolina whites faced some of the longest odds by 1867 of any other southern state to return to what they saw as an acceptable governmental and social situation. Nearly 60% of the state's population being former slaves, it would take a strong, cohesive, resistance movement to regain power. It took Carolinians almost ten years, until 1876, for them to be in a position to "redeem" the state. Whites used withering criticism of the Republican Reconstruction regime and intimidated blacks and other Republicans with wide-scale violence in order to undermine their enemies. But it was only with the tepid response of the northern government and public, weary over the years-long struggle with the South, which allowed the Redeemers to finally prevail via the violence-marred elections of 1876. The vast majority of native Carolina whites would not tolerate Republican rule; their undying opposition-a key component to any resistance movement-allowed them to prevail despite their minority position.