Research Catalog

The Union League and biracial politics in Reconstruction Texas

Title

The Union League and biracial politics in Reconstruction Texas / Carl H. Moneyhon.

Author

Moneyhon, Carl H., 1944-

Publication

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2021]
©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

Item details
Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	Sc E 21-1584	Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Description

x, 401 pages : illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white), portraits (black and white); 25 cm.

Summary

"The Republican Union League of America played a major role in the Southern Reconstruction that followed the American Civil War. A secret organization introduced into Texas in 1867 to mobilize newly enfranchised black voters, it was the first political body that attempted to secure power by forming a biracial coalition. Originally intended by white Unionists simply to marshal black voters to their support, it evolved into an organization that allowed blacks to their own political goals. It was abandoned by the state's Republican Party following the 1871 state elections. From the beginning, the use of the league by the Republican party proved controversial. While its opponents charged that its white leadership simply manipulated ignorant blacks to achieve power for themselves, ultimately encouraging racial conflict, the League not only educated blacks in their new political rights but also protected them in the exercise of those rights. It provided gave blacks a voice in supporting the legislative program of Governor Edmund J. Davis, helping him to push through laws aimed at the maintenance of law and order, securing basic civil rights for blacks, and the creation of public schools. Ultimately, its success and its secrecy provoked hostile attacks from political opponents, leading the Party to stop using it. Nonetheless, the Union League created a legacy of black activism that lasted throughout the nineteenth century and pushed Texas toward a remarkably different world from the segregated and racist one that developed after it disappeared"--

Series Statement

Summerfield G. Roberts Texas history series

Uniform Title

Summerfield G. Roberts Texas history series.

Subjects

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-376) and index.

Contents

Introduction -- One. Texas Unionists and the National Union League, 1863-1867 -- Two. Black Texans -- Three. The League Comes to Texas -- Four. The League and Black Agency -- Five. Black Agency and Democratic Violence, 1868 -- Six. The League and George Ruby, Conventions, and the Direction of Texas Republicanism, 1868-1869 -- Seven. The League and the Election of 1869 -- Eight. Reorganization and Restructuring: James P. Newcomb and the League -- Nine. Internal Divisions and the Election of 1871 -- Ten. The Demise of the League and its Legacy -- Conclusion.

Call Number

Sc E 21-1584

ISBN

9781623499563
1623499569

LCCN

2020052167

OCLC

1223068425

Author

Moneyhon, Carl H., 1944- author.

Title

The Union League and biracial politics in Reconstruction Texas / Carl H. Moneyhon.

Publisher

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2021]

Copyright Date

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Summerfield G. Roberts Texas history series

Summerfield G. Roberts Texas history series.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-376) and index.

Chronological Term

1800-1950

Research Call Number

Sc E 21-1584

View in Legacy Catalog