Reviews for The dividing and reuniting of America, 1848-1877

The average rating for The dividing and reuniting of America, 1848-1877 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-12-30 00:00:00 Elizabeth Renee Frye Montgomery presents an interesting argument about the relationship between Radical Republicans and labor during the Civil War and Radical Reconstruction phases of U.S. History. He claims that Radical Republicans' emphasis on equality for all, and their more ambitious push for land reform, ran against the currents of labor who formed a significant constituency for the party. To sustain labor votes in the subsequent elections, Radical Republicans actually had to go "beyond equality" to promote the labor reform movement in ways that ran counter to their ambitions to help freedmen. This is old-school labor history. Cut-and-dry recounting of labor unions, minutes of meetings, and what seems like thousands of various individuals of insignificant and slight importance in the general scheme of things. This makes the book an extremely dull read, and I would not recommend it for anyone other than specialists and graduate students needing to prepare for a comprehensive exam.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-09-12 00:00:00 Alexander Mezhirov This is an interesting analysis of the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, but it is written in a rather dry academic style that makes it slow going. I particularly liked Ellis' discussion of how nullification (the idea that any state, based on its sovereignty, may nullify - or refuse to acknowledge - any law passed by the federal government) fits in with various theories of states' rights. He also points out how the convergence of nullification and states' rights theories with efforts to justify slavery helped bring on the Civil War.