The twelve-year period following the American civil war is referred to as “Reconstruction”. The term carries with it a lot of political and cultural baggage which is rarely understood outside of partisan criticism. All sides have legitimate claims to justice, morality, and historical accuracy. But until professor Dunning’s outstanding analysis, all discussion of the subject was focused on events in the former Confederate states. As Dunning was to demonstrate, Reconstruction was not just a regional political phenomenon…it extended to the entire nation. Rather than focus solely on the dramatic events of scattered violence in a few Southern states, Dunning broadens his vision to incorporate the effects of Republican policies on Northern states, as well. Those policies led to dramatic changes, social as well as political. The results, often very bad, led to the emergence of an entirely new political alignment in Midwestern and Western societies, a union of farmers and industrial workers. These voters eventually merged with the interests of Southern agriculture to form the post civil war Democratic Party. When those interests converged at the ballot box in 1876, explosive political reactions resulted.

William A. Dunning was born in New Jersey in 1857. He was a highly esteemed professor of history at Columbia University in New York. His analysis of the Reconstruction period remains one of the most accurate and studied works of the era. Though modern works have probed different aspects of Reconstruction, Dunning’s work remains the standard reference. He died in 1922.