An Example for All the Land
Emancipation and the Struggle over Equality in Washington, D.C.
Kate Masur
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 10/2010
Pages: 376
Subject: Social Science, History
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807899328
DESCRIPTION
An Example for All the Land reveals Washington, D.C. as a
laboratory for social policy in the era of emancipation and the
Civil War. In this panoramic study, Kate Masur provides a nuanced
account of African Americans' grassroots activism, municipal
politics, and the U.S. Congress. She tells the provocative story of
how black men's right to vote transformed local affairs, and how,
in short order, city reformers made that right virtually
meaningless. Bringing the question of equality to the forefront of
Reconstruction scholarship, this widely praised study explores how
concerns about public and private space, civilization, and
dependency informed the period's debate over rights and
citizenship.