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.