Freedom's Lawmakers: Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction - Hardcover

"Highly recommended without reservations."--Choice "On many of these black officeholders the historical data is sketchy and sometimes contradictory. Yet, the author manages to produce an impressive and lively narrative on most of them....Foner has produced the first comprehensive biographical directory on black Reconstructionists. His introduction offers an excellent profile of black officeholders that will probably form the basis of many college lectures on Reconstruction....Freedom's Lawmakers belongs in city, county, and state libraries across the country. Foner is to be commended for the enormous time and effort he poured into this worthwhile project."--Georgia Historical Quarterly "With the publication of [Freedom's Lawmakers]...the process of merging a correct narrative of the nation's political history begins to take form."--The Courier (Tennessee Historical Commission) "A most welcome addition to the study of black leaders during their first concerted struggle for political freedom."--History: Reviews of New Books "Eric Foner...has once again put those who study the history of the United States in his debt....[Freedom's Lamakers] is a remarkable achievement....Reconstruction politics makes for fascinating study, and Foner's outstanding work will greatly assist us in this pursuit."--Virginia Magazine of History and Biography "An extremely useful directory....Researchers will find Freedom's Lawmakers an immensely valuable reference work....This is a major addition to every research collection that deals with the South."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society "This is the kind of book that, if done well, warms the hearts of historians, archivists, and librarians-a single source for biographical information about a specific group of people. And this volume is done well.... Freedom's Lawmakers fills a need and will doubtless become a standard source for researchers in the fields of American and African-American history....Academic libraries supporting history curricula will want to acquire this volume; many public libraries will also find it suitable for their collections."--The North Carolina Historical Review "Foner has produced a unique and scholarly work that belongs in any library interested in Civil War and Reconstruction or African-American history."--American Reference Book Association "eedom's Lawmakers offers a wealth of data."--Civil War "This is an important book that will serve as a major reference work for students of nineteenth-century American history."--The Journal od Mississippi History "Highly recommended without reservations."--Choice "On many of these black officeholders the historical data is sketchy and sometimes contradictory. Yet, the author manages to produce an impressive and lively narrative on most of them....Foner has produced the first comprehensive biographical directory on black Reconstructionists. His introduction offers an excellent profile of black officeholders that will probably form the basis of many college lectures on Reconstruction....Freedom's Lawmakers belongs in city, county, and state libraries across the country. Foner is to be commended for the enormous time and effort he poured into this worthwhile project."--Georgia Historical Quarterly "With the publication of [Freedom's Lawmakers]...the process of merging a correct narrative of the nation's political history begins to take form."--The Courier (Tennessee Historical Commission) "A most welcome addition to the study of black leaders during their first concerted struggle for political freedom."--History: Reviews of New Books "Eric Foner...has once again put those who study the history of the United States in his debt....[Freedom's Lamakers] is a remarkable achievement....Reconstruction politics makes for fascinating study, and Foner's outstanding work will greatly assist us in this pursuit."--Virginia Magazine of History and Biography "An extremely useful directory....Researchers will find Freedom's Lawmakers an immensely valuable reference work....This is a major addition to every research collection that deals with the South."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society "This is the kind of book that, if done well, warms the hearts of historians, archivists, and librarians-a single source for biographical information about a specific group of people. And this volume is done well.... Freedom's Lawmakers fills a need and will doubtless become a standard source for researchers in the fields of American and African-American history....Academic libraries supporting history curricula will want to acquire this volume; many public libraries will also find it suitable for their collections."--The North Carolina Historical Review "Foner has produced a unique and scholarly work that belongs in any library interested in Civil War and Reconstruction or African-American history."--American Reference Book Association "eedom's Lawmakers offers a wealth of data."--Civil War "This is an important book that will serve as a major reference work for students of nineteenth-century American history."--The Journal od Mississippi History "Highly recommended without reservations."--Choice "On many of these black officeholders the historical data is sketchy and sometimes contradictory. Yet, the author manages to produce an impressive and lively narrative on most of them....Foner has produced the first comprehensive biographical directory on black Reconstructionists. His introduction offers an excellent profile of black officeholders that will probably form the basis of many college lectures on Reconstruction....Freedom's Lawmakers belongs in city, county, and state libraries across the country. Foner is to be commended for the enormous time and effort he poured into this worthwhile project."--Georgia Historical Quarterly "With the publication of [Freedom's Lawmakers]...the process of merging a correct narrative of the nation's political history begins to take form."--The Courier (Tennessee Historical Commission) "A most welcome addition to the study of black leaders during their first concerted struggle for political freedom."--History: Reviews of New Books "Eric Foner...has once again put those who study the history of the United States in his debt....[Freedom's Lamakers] is a remarkable achievement....Reconstruction politics makes for fascinating study, and Foner's outstanding work will greatly assist us in this pursuit."--Virginia Magazine of History and Biography "An extremely useful directory....Researchers will find Freedom's Lawmakers an immensely valuable reference work....This is a major addition to every research collection that deals with the South."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society "This is the kind of book that, if done well, warms the hearts of historians, archivists, and librarians-a single source for biographical information about a specific group of people. And this volume is done well.... Freedom's Lawmakers fills a need and will doubtless become a standard source for researchers in the fields of American and African-American history....Academic libraries supporting history curricula will want to acquire this volume; many public libraries will also find it suitable for their collections."--The North Carolina Historical Review "Foner has produced a unique and scholarly work that belongs in any library interested in Civil War and Reconstruction or African-American history."--American Reference Book Association "eedom's Lawmakers offers a wealth of data."--Civil War "This is an important book that will serve as a major reference work for students of nineteenth-century American history."--The Journal od Mississippi History

Freedom's Lawmakers is the first comprehensive directory of America's first generation of black public officials--those who held office during the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War. With positions including congressman, justice of the peace, constable, and member of the legislature, the nearly 1500 officials listed here offer a panorama of the black community in all its diversity--freeborn and slave, Northern and Southern, rich and poor. The book draws on extensive research in the era's primary sources, and the voluminous literature on Reconstruction that has appeared in the past generation, providing information about the antebellum status, occupation, property ownership, military service, and other attributes of black officeholders. The concise biographies are augmented by 125 halftones, including seven composite photographs at the front of the book. In some cases, only a few pieces of information are available, but in a remarkable number of instances, the book traces the life histories of previously unknown individuals, most of them born as slaves, who played a role in America's first experiment in interracial democracy. The biographies follow many individuals into the twentieth century, illustrating the impact of these black Americans on post-Reconstruction society and the consequences for black Americans of the overthrow of Reconstruction.