Though the Civil War ended in April 1865; the conflict between Unionists and Confederates continued. The bitterness and rancor resulting from the collapse of the Confederacy spurred an ongoing cycle of hostility and bloodshed that made the Reconstruction period a violent era of transition. The violence was so pervasive that the federal government deployed units of the U.S. Army in North Carolina and other southern states to maintain law and order and protect blacks and Unionists.Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction North Carolina tells the story of the army's twelve-year occupation of North Carolina; a time of political instability and social unrest. Author Mark Bradley details the complex interaction between the federal soldiers and the North Carolina civilians during this tumultuous period. The federal troops attempted an impossible juggling act: protecting the social and political rights of the newly freed black North Carolinians while conciliating their former enemies; the ex-Confederates. The officers sought to minimize violence and unrest during the lengthy transition from war to peace; but they ultimately proved far more successful in promoting sectional reconciliation than in protecting the freedpeople. Bradley's exhaustive study examines the military efforts to stabilize the region in the face of opposition from both ordinary citizens and dangerous outlaws such as the Regulators and the Ku Klux Klan. By 1872; the widespread; organized violence that had plagued North Carolina since the close of the war had ceased; enabling the bluecoats and the ex-Confederates to participate in public rituals and social events that served as symbols of sectional reconciliation. This rapprochement has been largely forgotten; lost amidst the postbellum barrage of Lost Cause rhetoric; causing many historians to believe that the process of national reunion did not begin until after Reconstruction. Rectifying this misconception; Bluecoats and Tar Heels illuminates the U.S. Army's significant role in an understudied aspect of Civil War reconciliation.
#1412975 in Books 2013-11-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .88 x 6.13l; 1.43 #File Name: 0813044626352 pages
Review
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Perhaps the finest example I have seen of "Small Worlds; Large Questions."By Jonathan M. BryantDaniel Schafer's ZEPHANIAH KINGSLEY; JR. AND THE ATLANTIC WORLD is the best telling of southern maritime history; plantation development; and the evolving ideology of slavery I have ever come across. No book is perfect; but if you prefer to search for the answers to big historical questions in small places this book is a wonderful experience. The scope of research shown by the book is overwhelming; especially the author's achievement in following Kingsley's voyages around the Atlantic and even into the Indian Ocean. This makes for very exciting reading; but the analytical content of the book is also outstanding. After detailing the development of and variety of enterprises on of one of Kingsley's plantations; for example; Schafer sums it up with a sentence that contains an entire historiography and a lifetime of work. "Laurel Grove was an agricultural factory with three African villages transplanted to the East Florida countryside." The Jane Landers blurb on the cover is dead on.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. American History that Reads Like FictionBy Frederick A. BramanThis book is a wonderful addition to Schafer's earlier work on Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley; Zephaniah's slave born wife. I thought his first was terrific and I liked this current work even better. Schafer beautifully describes the exceedingly interesting; but; complex character of Kingsley and the life and times of America's plantation era in which he lived. A slave owner to be sure; Kingsley made a fortune in the slave trade. But; that doesn't begin to describe him and readers will find Kingsley's own outspoken opinions regarding slavery and his own management of his slaves interesting; and for most people; enlightening. Slavery; we learn; is not the same institution everywhere. Schafer doesn't take sides and paints Kingsley as his extensive research found him. In the end; the reader is left to decide what to think of Kingsley on their own. Schafer writes for both the casual reader and more serious students of history; and some may find the book too detailed in places. If you are a casual reader; don't be dissuaded by this. If you like history; this work reads like historical fiction; but; it's not.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I love all Daniel LBy J. MooreI love all Daniel L. Schafer's work. A great historian and a great writer. He has a deep knowledge of Kingsley and the times. I suggest to all who love history to read all his books.
