AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL THE LAND

An Example for All the Land reveals Washington DC 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 US Congress She tells the provocative story of how black mens 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 periods debate over rights and citizenship