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Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice
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About This Book
A "powerful" ( The Wall Street Journal ) biography of one of the 19th century's greatest statesmen, encompassing his decades-long fight against slavery and his postwar struggle to bring racial justice to America. Thaddeus Stevens was among the first to see the Civil War as an opportunity for a second American revolution—a chance to remake the country as a genuine multiracial democracy. As one of the foremost abolitionists in Congress in the years leading up to the war, he was a leader of the young Republican Party's radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before party colleagues like Abraham Lincoln endorsed them. These policies—including welcoming black men into the Union's armies—would prove crucial to the Union war effort. During the Reconstruction era that followed, Stevens demanded equal civil and political rights for Black Americans—rights eventually embodied in the 14th and 15th amendments. But while Stevens in many ways pushed his party—and America—towards equality, he also championed ideas too radical for his fellow Congressmen ever to support, such as confiscating large slaveholders' estates and dividing the land among those who had been enslaved. In Thaddeus Stevens , acclaimed historian Bruce Levine has written a "vital" ( The Guardian ), "compelling" (James McPherson) biography of one of the most visionary statesmen of the 19th century and a forgotten champion for racial justice in America.
Reviews
"Still, this is an accessible and well-researched introduction to one of the most consequential lawmakers in U.S."
"In the end, Reconstruction remained a road not taken, even as Stevens drove the train as fast as he could."
"In the 1850s, for example, immigration was a hot-button national issue, though the targeted minorities at that time were German and Irish."
"Levine is an unabashed but not uncritical admirer of his subject ..."
"Levine masterfully illustrates how Stevens used that fact to justify more sweeping war measures and, eventually, a transformation of Southern society ..."
"Easily the most detailed and important account of Stevens, this well-written biography belongs in every academic library and all other libraries with an emphasis on American history."
"Levine's biography of the South's much-loathed Northern antagonist is a fine addition to the literature of this ever-relevant era."
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