Originally published in 1935 by Harcourt, Brace and Co. Published 2012 by Transaction Publishers Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Introduction copyright © 2012 by Taylor & Francis. Originally published inB lack Politics in a Time of Transition, National Political Science Review, Volume 13, edited by Michael Mitchell and David Covin. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2012021875 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868–1963. Black re construction in America : toward a history of the part of which Black folk played in the attempt to reconstruct democracy in America, 1860–1880 / W. E. B. Du Bois, with a new introduction by Mack H. Jones. p. cm. “Originally published in 1935 by Harcourt, Brace and Co.” 1. Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) 2. African Americans— History—1863-1877. 3. African Americans—Politics and government. 4. African Americans—Employment—History—19th century. I. Title. E668.D84 2012 973.8—dc23 2012021875 ISBN 13: 978-1-4128-4620-2 (pbk) Ad Virginiam Vitae Salvatorem Contents Introduction to the Transaction Edition ix To the Reader xxv I. Th e Black Worker 1 II. Th e White Worker 14 III. Th e Planter 28 IV. Th e General Strike 49 V. Th e Coming of the Lord 76 VI. Looking Backward 115 VII. Looking Forward 163 VIII. Transubstantiation of a Poor White 211 IX. Th e Price of Disaster 289 X. Th e Black Proletariat in South Carolina 339 XI. Th e Black Proletariat in Mississippi and Louisiana 384 XII. Th e White Proletariat in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida 434 XIII. Th e Duel for Labor Control on Border and Frontier 469 XIV. Counter-Revolution of Property 518 XV. Founding the Public School 569 Black Reconstruction in America XVI. Back Toward Slavery 599 XVII. Th e Propaganda of History 635 Bibliography 652 viii Introduction to the Transaction Edition M ack H. Jones I ntroduction I n my view, Dr. Du Bois was America’s most outstanding and socially signifi cant intellectual ever, Black or White. His contributions as a scholar and political activist aff ected and enlightened practically every segment of American life and culture. For this paper, I choose to discuss his contribu- tions to the development of Black or African American Studies. (Th roughout the paper I use the two terms interchangeably.) Although the modern Black Studies movement did not begin until the 1960s, Du Bois made the case for Black Studies in the early days of the twentieth century and actually carried out Black Studies research long before the term was coined. In reality, Du Bois was the father, or perhaps, we might say, the intellectual grandfather of modern African American Studies. To support this assertion I will fi rst identify some of the ideological assumptions and principles of the Black Studies movement and then demonstrate how they were refl ected in the scholarship and politi- cal activism of Du Bois long before they were articulated by scholars such as Nathan Hare, Maulana Karenga, Molefi Asante, and others. Indeed, Du Bois not only addressed the assumptions and principles that were to characterize the Black Studies movement of the 1960s, but he also raised and expounded on almost all of the ideas and arguments that arose during the broader Black liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Arguments about integration vs. separation, nationalism vs. assimilation, socialism vs. capitalism, male chauvinism vs. feminism, etc., were all addressed by Du Bois half a century earlier. Du Bois not only addressed all of these issues, he did so with clarity and conviction unmatched by many contemporary scholars. Biography K nowing and understanding Du Bois’ biography and how it was shaped by the changing times in which he lived and struggled are critical for understand- ing his evolution as the intellectual grandfather of modern African American ix