Gold and Freedom ― The Political Economy of Reconstruction

The author examines the relationship between Reconstruction and the economic debates during the period through analysis of the interactions and influences of Reconstruction and political economy and political configuration, namely how parties and sections of the country interacted in terms of political positions and power relations. He explores the role of economic sectionalism and the impact of Southern reform, the redefinition of citizenship, and the transformation of race relations on sectional economic issues. He discusses how major debates in political economy revolved around opposition between the Northeast and Midwest, including the emergence of a Midwest sectional identity, the money question related to greenbacks as currency, and sectional positions on taxes and tariffs, then examines the political economy of Reconstruction in terms of how the emergence of economic sectionalism in the North disturbed the balance and allowed specific groups to take power to block a Southern reform policy, the period of sectional conflict between the Northeast and Midwest that divided the parties and favored a reinforcement of Reconstruction policy, and the period when sectional pressure led the Republican Party to abandon Reconstruction. Annotation c2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Nicolas Barreyre, Associate Professor at the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris, is coeditor of Historians across Borders: Writing American History in a Global Age. Arthur Goldhammer, affiliated with the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, is translator of Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont in America (Virginia), among numerous other works.