The Fourteenth Amendment; ratified on July 9; 1868; identified all legitimate voters as "male." In so doing; it added gender-specific language to the U.S. Constitution for the first time. Suffrage Reconstructed is the first book to consider how and why the amendment's authors made this decision. Vividly detailing congressional floor bickering and activist campaigning; Laura E. Free takes readers into the pre- and postwar fights over precisely who should have the right to vote. Free demonstrates that all men; black and white; were the ultimate victors of these fights; as gender became the single most important marker of voting rights during Reconstruction.Free argues that the Fourteenth Amendment's language was shaped by three key groups: African American activists who used ideas about manhood to claim black men's right to the ballot; postwar congressmen who sought to justify enfranchising southern black men; and women’s rights advocates who began to petition Congress for the ballot for the first time as the Amendment was being drafted. To prevent women’s inadvertent enfranchisement; and to incorporate formerly disfranchised black men into the voting polity; the Fourteenth Amendment’s congressional authors turned to gender to define the new American voter. Faced with this exclusion some woman suffragists; most notably Elizabeth Cady Stanton; turned to rhetorical racism in order to mount a campaign against sex as a determinant of one’s capacity to vote. Stanton’s actions caused a rift with Frederick Douglass and a schism in the fledgling woman suffrage movement. By integrating gender analysis and political history; Suffrage Reconstructed offers a new interpretation of the Civil War–era remaking of American democracy; placing African American activists and women’s rights advocates at the heart of nineteenth-century American conversations about public policy; civil rights; and the franchise.
#37969 in Books Kreider Alan 2016-03-29 2016-03-29Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .84 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 0801048494336 pagesThe Patient Ferment of the Early Church The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Worth ReadingBy Jose SoplaCertainly worth the read. The main theme is how the character of a community; in this case the community of Christians of the Roman Empire; changes when it becomes a major tool of government; in this case from one of growth through patience and free will to one of growth through waning patience and often force.People should realize that western European Christians are only one portion of Christian communities; and other Christian communities to the east are as important; if not more important; and have subsisted; even flowered; for by now millennia as a minor tool of government; and even often treated as an enemy body by a hostile government.Certainly exciting time to be Christian in a western civilization country; whose governments by now view Christians with hostility as a minority body; certainly a challenge for Christians who once again may have to put patience at the forefront of their character.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A well researched and excellent read. A dearly needed antidote to the promotional ...By Scott PursleyA well researched and excellent read. A dearly needed antidote to the promotional numbers driven obsession of the Western Christian Church. Book should be required reading at every seminary in the United States.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. In today's atmosphere of the Great Commission being so importantBy MtnugletWell researched book. In today's atmosphere of the Great Commission being so important; which I agree it is; this book brings up the attitude that it seems as though the early church had a patient; long view towards growth. As Kreider points out; part of this was due to potential threat of persecution that the early church had to deal with on a day to day basis; which led them towards greater caution. However; that was not the only motive behind their slower growth strategy. Want to learn more; then buy the book and read it.
