美国内战与重建美国内战与重建transcript21.doc

Civil War and Reconstruction: Lecture 21 Transcript
April 8, 2008
<< back
Professor David Blight: Reconstruction is that period of American history that I think still--I know still--is short-shrifted in the ways people tend to learn American history in this society, for whatever the reasons. Part of the reason may be that it's messy plicated, and part of the reason may be that it's full of violence, and part of the reason may be that it's just not as easy to find good heroes, and part of the reason may be that es after such a total, all out, and some may say, in so many ways a glorious war. Or as h Stampp, a great historian, once put it, until 1865 there was glory enough to go around, but after 1865 where was the glory? It's also been a period in which we've almost insisted--and I wonder just how you have learned about this before; if this were a smaller class I would ask you--but it's as though our culture still insists, from this period of our history, that it be a melodrama, some kind of melodrama with, well, a sufficient number of heroes and a sufficient number of villains, and a melodrama that usually ends up with a story of an oppressed South, much in need of our sympathy.
Now, I've put a piece of words up here in front of you. I walked back to see if you could read it. I do think most of you in the room can read it. Just hold onto the papers until the end, please. T