Historians overwhelmingly have blamed the demise of Reconstruction on Southerners\' persistent racism.
Using newspapers, public speeches, popular tracts, Congressional reports, and private correspondence, Richardson traces the chan.
Northern support for freed blacks and Reconstruction weakened in the wake of growing critiques of the economy and calls for a redistribution of wealth.
Heather Cox Richardson argues instead that class, along with race, was critical to Reconstruction\'s end.
Historians overwhelmingly have blamed the demise of Reconstruction on Southerners\' persistent racism