Themes Of Redemption The Last Battle Of The Civil War

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Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War Review In the historical narrative Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, Nicholas Leman gives readers an insight into the gruesome and savage acts that took place in the mid-1870s and eventually led to the end of the Reconstruction era in the southern states. Before the engaging narrative officially begins, Lemann gives a 29-page introduction to the setting and provides background information about the time period. With Republican Ulysses S. Grant as President of the United States of America and Republican Adelbert Ames, as the Governor of Mississippi, the narrative is set in a town owned by William Calhoun in the city of Colfax, Louisiana. As a formal military commander, Ames ensured a …show more content…

On Easter of 1873 the city of Colfax experienced what is considered to be the last, but bloodiest battle of the Civil War and the end of the Reconstruction Era. This devastating event is known as the Colfax Massacre. In hopes of intimidating African Americans to keep them from voting, the Colfax Massacre resulted in the deaths of hundreds of black men. All of the incidents that occurred in the narrative were a result of the racism whites had against African-Americans which makes this one of the major themes of the book. The prevalence of racism in Colfax leads to many violent outbreaks, thus making violence a reoccurring theme in the narrative. In Nicholas Lemann’s work, Redemption: The Last Battle of The Civil War, Lemann illustrates the themes of racism, and the …show more content…

He does this by examining Adelbert Ames rise to Governor along with his use of racist but real terminology. Also, he describes the violent outbreaks that arose due to the mass amount of racism. Leemann illustrates the brutality of the violence used in attempt to scare Republicans from voting. The events that occurred in Leemanns book have results that have changed our nation forever. Nicholas Leeman does an excellent job recounting how life was like in the southern states during the end of the Reconstruction

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