Join Square Books as we welcome author Jere Nash in conversation with Marshall Ramsey for Reconstruction in Mississippi, a compelling account of this turbulent and eventful era in the state’s history.
About the book
Throughout the ten-year period following the end of the Civil War, Mississippians responded to broader movements in the country, to changes in the national and international economy, and to congressional and presidential initiatives as they worked to recover from the devastation of war and pursue new expressions of freedom. Reconstruction in Mississippi, 1862-1877 is a compelling account of how Black Mississippians embraced this freedom and how white Mississippians could not.
Recording the mechanics of how the Confederate states were allowed to resume representation in Congress, the restoration of civil governments, and the political freedoms the formerly enslaved people acquired, Reconstruction in Mississippi, 1862-1877 documents the ways economic freedoms, such as the acquisition of land and the negotiation of fair labor contracts, evolved. Jere Nash begins this exploration with how the formerly enslaved men and women changed the political landscape for Abraham Lincoln by taking matters into their own hands as the Union Army moved into Mississippi in 1862. Nash then traces the federal occupation of the state, the adoption of the infamous Black Codes by the state legislature in 1865, the drafting and approval of the new constitution in 1869, the selection of the first two Black men ever to serve in the United States Senate, and the use of terror and fraud by white Democrats to steal the election of 1875 and regain political power. Reconstruction in Mississippi, 1862-1877 is a detailed and comprehensive history of this turbulent and eventful era in Mississippi.
About the Author
Jere Nash is a native of Greenville, Mississippi, served as a political consultant for forty-five years, and is coauthor of three books of Mississippi history. His first book, Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2006, written with Andy Taggart, won awards from the Mississippi Historical Society and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.
About the conversation partner
Marshall Ramsey is the Director of the Mississippi Media Lab and the Director of Engagement for the Jordan Center at the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. He’s also a two-time Pulitzer Finalist (2002 and 2006), a 2022 Southeastern Emmy winner, and his editorial cartoons are syndicated nationally by Creators Syndicate. His work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. He’s also the author of several successful books including three cartoon collections, two short story collections (Fried Chicken and Wine and Chainsaws and Casseroles) and the delightful children’s books Banjo’s Dream and SAVING SAM! A Banjo the Dog Story. He was also the longtime host of the award-winning weekly statewide radio program, Now You’re Talking with Marshall Ramsey on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He has appeared on Fox & Friends, Inside Edition, CBSN and CNN New Day.
Reconstruction in Mississippi: 1862-1877
by Jere Nash
$35.00
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi ISBN: 9781496858535
About the Author
