Black Reconstruction In America

Du Bois describes the counter-revolution, or violent reaction of capitalists and property holders against Black labor and labor more generally at the close of Reconstruction. He argues that between 1870 and 1876, Northern capitalists and Southern landowners collaborated to suppress advancements in labor rights that had been made between 1865 and 1870.

During this period, corruption and graft was rampant. A particular source of corruption was railway construction. In the North, public dollars were used to develop railroads, which were then purchased and operated by private operators who often used bribes and speculation to secure their holdings. After the Civil War, the South embarked on similar railway construction to boost their economy, and these projects were similarly plagued with graft and corruption. Public corruption during the Reconstruction period was often blamed on Black legislators and government officials. Democrats used claims of corruption, as well as Klan violence and fraud, to overthrow Republican governments. By 1876, a “new monarchial dictatorship” (523) overtook democratic control, labor relations, and racial equality in the United States as capital consolidated and federal support for Black people was abandoned.

Du Bois argues this political shift happened not only because of racism and capitalistic greed, but also because liberals like