"This traditional view of Reconstruction has long since been abandoned by historians, although it retains a remarkable hold on popular understanding of the era. Today historians emphatically reject the racist underpinnings of the old interpretation, viewing the Reconstruction as a noble if flawed experiment, the first attempt to introduce a genuine inter-racial democracy in the United States. The tragedy was not that Reconstruction was attempted, but that it failed, leaving the problem of racial justice to future generations. In the modern view, blacks were active agents in shaping the era’s history, not simply the victims of manipulation by others. Andrew Johnson was a stubborn, racist politician, whose policies alienated not only Radicals, who never controlled Congress, but the vast majority of Republicans."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Presidents of the United StatesVice Presidents of the United StatesGovernors of TennesseePeople from RaleighPoliticians from Tennessee
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Eric Foner, as quoted in "If Lincoln Hadn’t Died" (2009), American Heritage.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Andrew Johnson
60 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Andrew Johnson →
Related Quotes
"I am a-goin' for to tell you here to-day; yes, I'm a-goin for to tell you all, that I'm a plebian! I glory in it; I a…"
"Whenever you hear a man prating about the Constitution, spot him as a traitor."
"There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws."
"There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who enter…"
"No, gentlemen, if I am to be shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet."
"Mr. Jefferson meant the white race."
"I have lived among Negroes, all my life, and I am for this Government with slavery under the Constitution as it is. I…"
"Colored men of Tennessee, humble and unworthy as I am, if no better shall be found I will indeed be your Moses and le…"
"If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution of the United States…"
"This is your country as well as anybody else's country. This country is founded upon the principle of equality. He th…"