The Rise And Fall of the Second American Empire (Book Review)

Reconstruction didn't fall, it was pushed; Dr. Sinha prosecutes the case thoughtfully and dissects it completely.

Many works on Reconstruction focus on Black men in the southeast with light references to Black women and possibly indigenous people. Dr. Sinha explores the time frame with many layers, starting with the war, the presidency, and democracy in section one.

With that base, she explores the new bureaucracy (Freedman's Bureau), the Black perspective, and the women's suffrage perspective before turning west to look at how reconstruction's ghosts regrouped on Indigenous land, laying the groundwork for a system of subjugation that could eventually be exported worldwide.

The economic perspective drives this manifesting of destiny, and we learn through Supreme Court decisions that when Mitt Romney said corporations are people, he was right—corporations subverted the reconstruction amendments to make themselves immune from regulations. And scotus agreed.

Also, out west, Jim Crow laws were used to prevent Chinese people from gaining citizenship; nativism ran rampant, and people paid the price.

Each time you think you've learned about the period, she adds another layer.

Throughout the whole journey is a foundational sludge of right-wing violence—always to subvert democracy, never to promote it.

A final section explains the Lost Cause Myth in clear terms. Basically, the South created a fantasy upside-down world where the Confederate army was superior and successful. Treason meant patriotism, destroying the Constitution meant upholding it, losing meant winning, and defending slavery became upholding Southern"honor" and "heritage."

It is remarkable how much yesterday looks like today: when they don't like their history, they rewrite it.

This is a great book that puts today's struggle into historical perspective. It's a must-read.