{"id":5511,"date":"2022-01-14T19:51:01","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T19:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/?page_id=5511"},"modified":"2025-01-23T08:48:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:48:21","slug":"reconstruction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/course-syllabus\/reconstruction\/","title":{"rendered":"Reconstruction"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<h3>What does the story of Prince Rivers teach us about the period of Reconstruction?<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>House Divided Project, <a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/story\/uAVxfs_zVjtpJg\">The Prince of Emancipation<\/a> (Google Arts)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/2012\/11\/06\/emancipation-among-black-troops-in-south-carolina\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6438\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-24-at-7.01.38-AM-300x211.png\" alt=\"Emancipation Day\" width=\"300\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-24-at-7.01.38-AM-300x211.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-24-at-7.01.38-AM-1024x719.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-24-at-7.01.38-AM-768x539.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-24-at-7.01.38-AM-427x300.png 427w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-24-at-7.01.38-AM.png 1438w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Emancipation\n<ul>\n<li>Runaway \/\/ Contraband \/\/ Freedman \/\/ Activist \/\/ Emancipator \/\/ Witness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Wartime\n<ul>\n<li>Color Bearer \/\/ Soldier \/ Provost Sergeant \/\/ Delegate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Reconstruction\n<ul>\n<li>Landholder \/\/ Politician \/\/ Leader \/\/ Judge \/\/ Outcast \/\/ Veteran<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Image Gateway<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UEQcdxUXGnk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For more background on this image, see <a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/civilwar\/course-syllabus-2\/part-2-why-they-fought\/\">Civil War &amp; Reconstruction Online<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_205\" style=\"width: 186px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2015\/01\/Young-Booker.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-205\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-205\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2015\/01\/Young-Booker-176x300.jpg\" alt=\"BTW\" width=\"176\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2015\/01\/Young-Booker-176x300.jpg 176w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2015\/01\/Young-Booker.jpg 426w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 176px) 100vw, 176px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Booker T. Washington, circa 1870s<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The term \u201cReconstruction\u201d has more than one meaning in American history. \u00a0Usually it refers to the period from 1863 to 1877, as the federal government worked to \u201creconstruct\u201d or \u201crestore\u201d former Confederate states back in the national system of political representation. \u00a0This was a controversial effort that often pitted the major political parties and the federal branches against each other, but ultimately all of the former rebel states returned to their place within the union by the early 1870s. \u00a0But after 1865, however, the idea of a reconstructed nation meant far more than just a restoration of southern participation in the government.\u00a0 The times seemed to demand a reconstructed Constitution, almost a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/course-syllabus\/second-founding\/\">&#8220;Second Founding&#8221;<\/a> of the American republic with the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments (1865-70). It also meant more broadly a reconstructed multi-racial society, not only in the South but also in the North, one that now included free blacks and whites living and often voting together. \u00a0That proved highly controversial, quite difficult and sometimes brutally violent.\u00a0 When he was 16-years-old, former Virginia slave <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/up-from-slavery\/\">Booker T. Washington<\/a>\u00a0traveled over 500 miles, mostly by foot, in order\u00a0to receive an education at the Hampton Institute, one of several schools established for the freed people during the era of Reconstruction. \u00a0In chapter 3 of his memoir,\u00a0<em>Up From Slavery,\u00a0<\/em>Washington recounts his penniless arrival in Richmond on his way to Hampton. \u00a0In one of the most memorable scenes in American literature, he describes how he\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bartleby.com\/1004\/3.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201ccrept under the sidewalk\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and slept outside on his first night, exhausted and hungry, but still hopeful that he could \u201creconstruct\u201d his life with a real education. \u00a0 After much hard work, Washington succeeded, but he still acknowledged the challenges that loomed so large in the 1870s, such as what he called the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.georgiaencyclopedia.org\/articles\/history-archaeology\/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cKu Klux period,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which he considered,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bartleby.com\/1004\/4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cthe darkest part of the Reconstruction days.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Ultimately, the federal government stopped enforcing the fight for equality and civil rights after 1877, sending the nation into a new era, one without chattel slavery but also, sadly, with a growing acceptance for color discrimination and segregation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion Question<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What should have been the most urgent priorities for &#8220;reconstruction&#8221; after the Civil War?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/exhibit\/the-prince-of-emancipation-house-divided-project-at-dickinson-college\/mgJyfs_zVjtpJg?hl=en\"><strong>Prince Rivers (c. 1820 \u2013 1887)<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/exhibit\/the-prince-of-emancipation-house-divided-project-at-dickinson-college\/mgJyfs_zVjtpJg?hl=en\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4819 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-01-at-11.12.42-AM.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 964px) 100vw, 964px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-01-at-11.12.42-AM.png 964w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-01-at-11.12.42-AM-300x174.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-01-at-11.12.42-AM-768x445.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-01-at-11.12.42-AM-500x289.png 500w\" alt=\"Prince Rivers\" width=\"964\" height=\"558\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDat\u2019s de reason I jine de soldier. I was gettin\u2019 big wages in Beaufort, but I\u2019d rather take less, and fight for de United States; for I believe the United States is now fightin\u2019 for me, and for my people.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/story\/uAVxfs_zVjtpJg\">&#8212;<em>Prince Rivers quoted by James Miller McKim, August 1862<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we sogers are men \u2013men de first time in our lives. \u00a0Now we can look our old masters in the face. \u00a0They used to sell us and whip us, and we did not dare say one word. \u00a0Now we ain\u2019t afraid, if they meet us, to run the bayonet through them.\u201d &#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/story\/uAVxfs_zVjtpJg\">attributed to Prince Rivers, November 4, 1863<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was told that the Government has given Land to Soldiers. If this land were given will [it] be just for the time being or will [it] be hereafter held by the Soldiers? I would like very much to know if any Part of the Mainland. \u00a0If so I would like to get a piece on Mr. H.M. Stuart plantation, Oak Point, near Coosaw River.&#8221; &#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/2012\/11\/08\/general-hunter-confiscates-prince-rivers\/\">Prince Rivers to Gen. Rufus Saxton, November 26, 1865<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-ZNdUQVSPeg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Additional resources from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/\">Emancipation Digital Classroom<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/2012\/11\/08\/general-hunter-confiscates-prince-rivers\/\">Gen. Hunter Confiscates Prince Rivers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/2012\/11\/06\/emancipation-among-black-troops-in-south-carolina\/\">First South Carolina Volunteers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Public Memory<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-6.25.39-AM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5731\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-6.25.39-AM.png\" alt=\"SC Statues\" width=\"898\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-6.25.39-AM.png 898w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-6.25.39-AM-269x300.png 269w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-6.25.39-AM-768x855.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 898px) 100vw, 898px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Handouts<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Handout-Black-Soldiers-Legacy.pdf\">Handout &#8211;Black Soldiers Legacy<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does the story of Prince Rivers teach us about the period of Reconstruction? House Divided Project, The Prince of Emancipation (Google Arts) Emancipation Runaway \/\/ Contraband \/\/ Freedman \/\/ Activist \/\/ Emancipator \/\/ Witness Wartime Color Bearer \/\/ Soldier \/ Provost Sergeant \/\/ Delegate Reconstruction Landholder \/\/ Politician \/\/ Leader \/\/ Judge \/\/ Outcast [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":13,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-5511","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5511\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}