Read more
Of Times and Race contains eight essays on African American history from the Jacksonian era through the early twentieth century. Taken together, these essays, inspired by noted scholar John F. Marszalek, demonstrate the many nuances of African Americans' struggle to grasp freedom, respect, assimilation, and basic rights of American citizens.
Essays include Mark R. Cheathem's look at Andrew Jackson Donelson's struggle to keep his plantations operating within the ever-growing debate over slavery in mid-nineteenth-century America. Thomas D. Cockrell examines Southern Unionism during the Civil War and wrestles with the difficulty of finding hard evidence due to sparse sources. Stephen S. Michot examines issues of race in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, and finds that blacks involved themselves in both armies, curiously clouding issues of slavery and freedom. Michael B. Ballard delves into how Mississippi slaves and Union soldiers interacted during the Vicksburg campaign. Union treatment of freedmen and of U.S. colored troops demonstrated that blacks escaping slavery were not always welcomed. Horace Nash finds that sports, especially boxing, played a fascinating role in blending black and white relations in the west during Reconstruction. Timothy Smith explores the roles of African Americans who participated in the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the creation of the Shiloh National Military Park. James Scott Humphreys analyzes the efforts of two twentieth-century historians who wished to debunk the old, racist views of Reconstruction known as the Dunning school of interpretation. Edna Greene Medford provides a concluding essay that ties together the essays in the book and addresses the larger themes running throughout the text.
Essays by Michael B. Ballard, Mark R. Cheathem, Thomas D. Cockrell, Edna Greene Medford, Stephen S. Michot, Horace Nash, Timothy B. Smith, and James Scott Humphreys
About the author
Michael B. Ballard is professor, university archivist, coordinator of the Congressional and Political Research Center, and associate editor of the U. S. Grant publishing projects at Mississippi State University. He is the author or editor of eleven books including The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles and U. S. Grant: The Making of a General, 1861-1863.|Mark R. Cheathem is an associate professor of history at Cumberland University. He is the author of Old Hickory's Nephew: The Political and Private Struggles of Andrew Jackson Donelson and editor of Jacksonian and Antebellum Age: People and Perspectives.
