This book examines social, political, and cultural conflicts opened by the abolition of slavery and the fashioning of wage relations in the era of the American Civil War. It offers a new, close look at the origins, goals, and tactics of popular political clubs created by emancipated workers in the countryside of one of the Deep South's oldest plantation states. The Work of Reconstruction draws on a rich documentary record that allowed ex-slaves to express in their own words and behavior the aspirations and goals that underlay their efforts. Not satisfied to render freed men and women as objects of theoretical inquiry, this book vividly recovers the concrete practices and language in which ex-slaves achieved freedom and the expectations that they had of liberty.
Industry Reviews
"Saville's work makes a significant contribution to the literature on the origins of the postwar agricultural labor system." Civil War History "...a brilliant combination of theoretical insight and deep research...and conviction that teaches us something about ourselves as well as about our past. This is a book to be read more than once. This is a book to ponder." ILWCH "In The Work of Reconstruction she [Saville] displays the theoretical depth, the penchant for indefatigable research, and the eye for the big questions that make her a prime candidate for the authorship of the big book on Reconstruction we badly need." Eugene Genovese, Journal of Social History "Saville is especially successful in demonstrating how the transition from slavery to wage labor affected the lives of the freed people. The book is well organized to provide the reader with an understanding of the development of Reconstruction policies in South Carolina, with an emphasis on how the freed people perceived those policies...The author's treatment of the work of Reconstruction in South Carolina not only provides a strong foundation for understanding ex-slaves' experiences in other states but also contributes valuable evidence for the study of race and labor in post-Civil War America as well." Julie Doyle, The North Carolina Historical Review "In The Work of Reconstruction she [Saville] displays the theoretical depth, the penchant for indefatigable research, and the eye for the big questions that make her a prime candidate for the authorship of the big book on Reconstruction we badly need." Eugene Genovese, Journal of Social History "The argument that the ex-slaves desired to own land and to control their daily lives is far from new, of course, but Saville is to be commended for the sophistication with which she documents their struggle. She is also particularly successful at demonstrating the political manifestations of the freedpeople's efforts to control wage relations, the study's most original contribution." Robert Tracy McKenzie, American Historical Review "...sensitive and painstaking examination of the meaning of freedom from the point of view of former slaves. Thoroughly researched and imaginatively written, The Work of Reconstruction presents former slaves as free people whose lives were grounded in family...As a result of this study, Reconstruction can no longer be seen as an essentially political phenomenon." Historian "The argument that the ex-slaves desired to own land and to control their daily lives is far from new, of course, but Saville is to be commended for the sophistication with which she documents their struggle. She is also particularly successful at demonstrating the political manifestations of the freedpeople's efforts to control wage relations, the study's most original contribution." Robert Tracy McKenzie, American Historical Review "Saville's book is truly commendable. It provides us with an informed reconstruction of the freedpeople's local and daily struggles." Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie, The Journal of Southern History "What sets this book apart in the Reconstruction field is its primary focus on rural black workers and the processes between them and landowners. Deeply rooted in primary sources...Saville's labour history of emacipation...is usually convincing, consistently engaging, and uncoomonly valuable." John T. O'Brien, Labour/Le Travail
