Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction

Author(s):  
Erik B. Alexander

This essay traces political developments in the Civil War Era between 1861 and 1877. In doing so, it argues that unpredictability and uncertainty defined the politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Political parties and party labels were fluid and malleable in the midst of contemporary predictions of political realignment. The essay attempts to interpret the major events of the period through this lens of political instability. It outlines party politics during the Civil War in both the North and the South, discusses the Lincoln administration, and interprets the elections of 1862 and 1864. The essay then moves to the politics of Reconstruction, discussing the clash between Andrew Johnson and Congress, Radical Reconstruction, and the presidential elections of 1868 and 1872. The essay concludes with political developments in the South, the failure of Reconstruction, and the presidential election of 1876.

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 666-682
Author(s):  
Joseph Oti Frimpong

Supplementing literature study with in-depth unstructured interviews from the two dominant political parties in Ghana on how they mobilize funds, the key argument of this article is that the loss of a presidential election in Ghana is a reduction in a party’s major income streams. Unlike other studies that look at incumbency advantage in party funding from the angle of governments’ policies that weaken the opposition parties, this article analyses incumbency from their sources of funds. It fulfils two major objectives of identifying the sources of funds of political parties and establishing the link between these sources and incumbency.


1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (95) ◽  
pp. 327-340
Author(s):  
Francis Thompson

The Irish land act of 1881, it is generally agreed, was a victory for the Land League and Parnell, and nationalist policy with regard to the act and the attitude of southern tenants towards it have been many times subjected to detailed examination by historians of this period. In these analyses of the events of 1880–81, however, little reference is normally made to the part played by the different parties and interests in the north of the country. It is often assumed, for example, that the Ulster tenants held aloof from the campaign for reform, lending no more than occasional vocal support to the agitational efforts of tenants in the south and west. Indeed, they were later excoriated by William O'Brien, Michael Davitt and others not only for giving no support to the land movement but also for sabotaging Parnell's policy of testing the 1881 act by precipitately rushing into the land courts to take advantage of the new legislation: ‘that hard-fisted body of men, having done nothing themselves to win the act, thought of nothing but turning it to their own immediate use, and repudiating any solidarity with the southern and western rebels to whom they really owed it’. If, however, northern tenants were harshly judged by nationalist politicians in the years after 1881, the part played by the northern political parties in the history of the land bill has been either ignored or misunderstood by historians since that time. The Ulster liberals, for example, are rarely mentioned, the implication being that they made no contribution to the act even though it implemented almost exactly the programme on which they had been campaigning for much of the previous decade. The northern conservatives, on the other hand, are commonly seen as leading opponents of the bill, more intransigent than their party colleagues in the south, ‘quick to denounce any weakening of the opposition’ to reform, and ‘determined to keep the tory party up to the mark in defending the landlord interest’


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Luís Miguel Moreira

Resumen: La progresiva radicalización ideológica del régimen republicano, instaurado en Portugal en octubre de 1910, provocó una oposición conservadora y monárquica que se organizó en el exilio, sobre todo en el sur de Galicia. Entre octubre de 1911 y junio de 1912, estacionados en varios pueblos y villas gallegas en la raya con Portugal, los monárquicos hicieron dos incursiones en territorio portugués —el primero en Vinhais y el segundo en Chaves— con el fin de fomentar la rebelión contra régimen instaurado. Sin embargo, las tropas republicanas, más numerosas y mejor equipadas, vencieron todos los combates. En la época, este episodio de guerra civil mereció amplia cobertura periodística, particularmente por la prensa afecta al régimen republicano. Los mapas y las fotografías de la frontera fueron ampliamente utilizados para localizar e ilustrar los acontecimientos. En este texto, pretendemos reconstituir estos movimientos, proponiendo una lectura geográfico-histórica de la raya luso-gallega, en el contexto de este episodio.Palabras clave: República portuguesa, incursiones monárquicas, raya galaico-portuguesa, cartografía propaganda.Abstract: The ideological radicalisation of the republican regime, established in Portugal in October 1910, gave rise to the forming of a conservative and monarchical opposition in exile, in the south of the Spanish historic region of Galicia. Between October 1911 and June 1912, from several Galician villages not far from the Portuguese border, the monarchists made two incursions into the north of the country - the first to Vinhais and the second to Chaves - with the aim of fuelling popular uprisings and a military rebellion against the new regime. However, the Republican troops, more numerous and better equipped, won all the battles. At the time, this episode of civil war received extensive journalistic coverage particularly from the newspapers close to the republican regime. Maps and photographs of the border were widely used to locate and illustrate the events. From the historic-geographical perspective of the Portuguese-Galician border, this paper reconstitutes these movements in the broader historical context.Key words: Portuguese Republic, monarchical incursions, Portuguese-Galician border, propaganda maps.


Author(s):  
Jonathan W. White

Men and women on the home front experienced a wide array of dreams during the Civil War. Women in the South and Border States often dreamed of Yankee soldiers invading their homes, while women in the North dreamed of going to battle to fight. Anxiety also often manifested itself in women’s dreams, as they worried about their husbands who were far away at war. These dreams placed wives in a difficult situation. They wanted to seek comfort by sharing their bad dreams with their husbands, but they did not want to discourage or demoralize their menfolk in the army.


Author(s):  
Anthony Roberts

With Turkic and Tajik peoples to the north, Tajiks and Pashtuns in the west, ethnic Hazaras in the central highlands and the Pashtuns to the south and east, Afghanistan’s diversity stems from its history as a regional crossroads. Christianity began in Afghanistan in the fourth century and was later revived by missionaries in the frontier areas, but there was little concerted effort to spread the faith until after 1945, when the Pashtun monarchy sought to modernise Afghanistan. However, the Soviet invasion prompted fighters to repel the forces under the banner of Islam. Amidst a civil war, Christian NGO’s continued until expelled by the Taliban in 2001. The new government allowed Christian NGO’s to expand into new areas of the country. For the sake of believers’ security the most visible fellowships have been limited to foreigners. Most find it difficult to sustain everyday life in the country while openly professing Christianity due to ostracism from society. While Islam has been linked with Afghan identity, worldview has begun to change. Unfortunately, there has been an exodus of Afghan believers, usually after social and legal ostracism. Nevertheless, due to sacrifices by Afghan believers, the church is growing in numbers despite all the challenges.


Significance His comments are optimistic. The other two rival administrations that are based in Libya have resisted efforts to form a unified government, while armed groups (some associated with the administrations, others independent) compete for local dominance. As a result, intermittent escalations in fighting and sporadic attacks by fringe militias continue to occur in parts of the country. Concern has grown about the impact on civilians. Impacts Bombings and outbreaks of intense fighting will remain a risk in key contested locations in the north. Clashes between militias will recur sporadically in the south. The number of migrants working in Libya and seeking to travel to Europe may increase again.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Case

In the 1850s, the American scientist and educator Frederick A. P. Barnard created a collection of scientific apparatus at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, of a size and expense that surpassed any collection in the United States at that time. The collection, which would come to include over three hundred instruments of both American and European manufacture, was the attempt by Barnard, born and educated in the North, to bring Big Science to the South and challenge the dominance of Northern schools in science education. In this respect it failed, and the collection became a forgotten footnote in the history of Southern science. This article examines the importance of the collection in understanding science at U.S. universities before the Civil War and what Barnard referred to as the "scientific atmosphere" of the South. The first section compares the collection to others of the period, highlighting its historical uniqueness and significance. The second section uses Barnard's correspondence to construct a narrative of the collection's assembly, providing insight into the international scientific instrument market of the period as well as the difficulties he faced working in the antebellum South. Finally, an examination of Barnard's perceptions regarding intellectual isolation and the failure of his endeavor highlights differences perceived by scientists of the day concerning the practice of science in the North versus in the South prior to the Civil War.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Pollock

James Baxter Bean published a series of articles in the Southern Dental Examiner in 1862 describing his work with “plaster and its manipulations.” This early experience included a new way of managing jaw fractures, with customized splints uniquely based on pretraumatic occlusion. Bean's oral splints and their method of construction, using an articulator, became the standard of care in the Atlanta region during the American Civil War and, by 1864, throughout The Confederacy. In short course, Bean's approach also swept The Union, following in large part the efforts of a colleague in the North, T.B. Gunning. Thus, what began in the early 1860s in a dental laboratory in the southeast swept the continental United States and revolutionized management of jaw-fractures during, and immediately after, the American Civil War.


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