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2009 Abbeville Institute Summer
School
"THE MEANING AND LEGACY
OF RECONSTRCUTION"
St. Christopher Conference
Center
2810 Seabrook Island, Johns Island, SC 29455-6219
July 19-24, 2009
Up to the late 1960s, historians
tended to view "Reconstruction" (1865-1877) as a dark and
tragic era. A defeated region, having undergone scorched earth
war, was humiliated, punished, and plundered under military
rule and by a Congress that showed contempt for Constitutional
restraints. After the 1960s, however, a new historiography
appeared, inspired by Marxist style analysis. In this view
"Reconstruction" was the high point in America's revolutionary
goal of building an egalitarian society. But it failed because
of Northern lack of will and Southern violence. Reconstruction
was not a tragic era but an egalitarian revolution that did
not go far enough. Though it has become the mainline view,
the new historiography has not refuted the older one; it simply
dismisses it. The goal of the summer school was to recover
what is true in the older historiography as well as to introduce
new topics for research and writing.
There were 45 participants including
the faculty, guests and thirty students on scholarships. We
met on the coast of beautiful Seabrook Island. In the evening
after lectures we enjoyed music, song, and conversation about
things human and divine.
See the
Speakers: View the Program:
View a Slideshow
©
The Abbeville Institute. P. O. Box 10, McClellanville, SC 29458. All Rights Reserved.
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