Thaddeus Stevens : nineteenth-century egalitarian
One of the most controversial figures in nineteenth-century American history, Thaddeus Stevens is best remembered for his role as congressional leader of the radical Republicans and as a chief architect of Reconstruction. Long painted by historians as a vindictive "dictator of Congress," out to punish the South at the behest of big business and his own ego, Stevens receives a more balanced treatment in Hans L. Trefousse's biography, which portrays him as an impassioned orator, an indefatigable advocate of racial equality, and a leader in the struggle against slavery. Trefousse addresses the riddle of Stevens's personality - his seeming harshness toward his foes, his kindness toward the poor and powerless, his stern manner and biting sarcasm - and explores the motivations for this leader's lifelong commitment to racial equality. He offers a fascinating portrait of the man whose impassioned opposition to slavery helped move his more moderate congressional colleagues toward the implementation of egalitarianism
Print Book, English, ©1997
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, ©1997
collective biographies
xiii, 312 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
9780807823354, 9780807856666, 080782335X, 0807856665
35280615
1: New England youth
2: Rising Pennsylvania lawyer
3: Budding politician
4: Legislative leader
5: Anti-Mason in trouble
6: Reluctant coalitionist
7: Antislavery Whig
8: Emerging Republican
9: Unionist advocate
10: War leader
11: Republican firebrand
12: Radical of radicals
13: Lincoln's critic and eulogist
14: Radical reconstructionist
15: Fugleman of the Joint Committee
16: Leader of the thirty-ninth congress
17: Thwarted congressional manager
18: Archfoe of the president
19: Defeated radical
20: Epilogue