The Day Dixie Died: The Occupied South, 1865-1866

The husband and wife authors of The Day Dixie Died have impressively worked their way through thousands of pages of diaries, letters, and newspapers in writing their account of the post-war southern experience. But halfway through their book, I began to get impatient with the uncritical way in which they accept all the material they cite. It's this relative absence of any effort to sift through the mass of quoted information that, in my estimation, lessens the book's value.The Goodrich's initial and guiding claim is that a second Lincoln term would've spelled a completely different fate than the south endured. But they offer no hard evidence for this assertion, and indeed it's difficult to see how they could. There's no doubt that Lincoln wanted reconciliation. But given the vast agricultural, transportation, and superstructural destruction in the south, as well as the conviction on the part of many northerners (and not just radical Republicans) that the south was responsible for the war, it's not at all clear that Lincoln's "with malice toward none" hopes would've gotten very far.Moreover, the Goodriches base their claims of post-war northern depredations almost exclusively on southern newspaper accounts and southern diaries and letters. But both southern and northern newspapers in the 19th century were notoriously partisan, too often churning out purple prosed "reporting" that slanted the facts to fit the editorial leaning. It only stands to reason that southern newspapers, feeling the sting of defeat, would be tempted to take as gospel every rumor of northern abuse that came their way. Ditto with private individuals writing in their diaries.The point isn't that the diarists and newspaper reporters are totally unreliable, but that their claims require some kind of corroboration. But the authors of The Day Dixie Died appear to take the archival material they cite on faith. This is not only dubious historiography. It also gives the book a decided southern slant (as does the consistent vilification of radical Republicans) and, consequently, a curiously aged feel, as if written a couple of generations ago when the Lost Cause ethos was alive and well.There's absolutely no doubt that the ex-Confederate states suffered after the war. A combination of war destruction, northern anger and southern loss of morale on the one hand and seething resentment of both northerners and freed blacks on the other made for some hard times in the first year after the war. A balanced account of this period would take all factors into consideration.

Excellently researched and written. I was a Political Science major who had studied the war extensively in my youth. This opened my eyes to many facts that escaped me as a young scholar.

This is one great educational book. I have read many books on the civil war and this one is the best. I discovered Andrew Johnson is one of my most despised presidents. I know if Lincoln had not died he would have handled the recovery of the south in a peaceful way. I once read a book on Sherman's march through the south and became sick of all the destruction caused but this book showed so much more. War it seems turns people into animals. The slaves were freed and then they were left to defend themselves without food, clothing, shelter, or means to purchase anything. This book will make my head spin for a long time. Thanks to the authors for their great research and a master piece.

General knowledge and curiosity.

As a child of the Southland, I found this book positively riveting. I couldn't always take too much of it at one time, but I was a bit surprised at how much I learned. I'm no historian, but I had relatives who fought in the Civil War, and I've always been interested in it. MOST highly recommended!!

Haven't even open this book or read this title. So I'm not even sure what to say here. Or even what comments to make of this. I am giving it 3 stars for now just to be fair to the author. Can't say its bad or good.

This book is what I was looking for to explain Reconstruction in the South.

This book has the enormous advantage of not being politically correct. Even if you are a Southerner who has heard the usual stories of Reconstruction, you will come away with a compelling understanding of why the Solid South occurred and perhaps sooner than you might suspect.The surviving eyewitness accounts from the reviewer's home county in Alabama and a few family memories support the theme of this book. The authors have given a detailed perspective of the events in the South in which these family happenings have risen to a remarkably sharp reality.

the story of the US civil war and its aftermat. Very one sided.