W.E.B. Du Bois

Many of the first generation of Reconstruction scholars, such as William Dunning, labeled the era a failure, placing much of the blame on the Radical Republicans who governed the postwar South. One of the first people to defend the outcome of Reconstruction was historian and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois. In the following viewpoint Du Bois contends that Reconstruction should not be considered a failure. According to Du Bois blacks enjoyed far more educational and political opportunities than before the war. He also defends southern governments against charges of corruption, contending that black politicians brought lasting and beneficial changes to the region, such as democratic government, free public schools, and improved state constitutions.

There is danger to-day [1909] that between the intense feeling of the South and the conciliatory spirit of the North grave...