Just to quickly comment on what was said before the weekend... In looking at radical reconstruction, at least to me, it seems a lot like what happened in the south before the war, with the fire-eaters. A group of radicals were able to gain support around a “common” enemy and push their ideas into popular policy.

As for tonight’s readings, we are shown the final death of reconstruction. With the election of Hayes in 1876/77, reconstruction was over in the south (as announced by Grant). And for the most part, what the radical reconstructionist had hoped to stop was not stopped at all, the old guard seemed to come right back and restrict black rights. The “unfinished revolution” of black rights would at least get its foundation here, but would not end until the ending half of the 20th century.