The other phase of reconstruction

John Mercer Langston

Langston, an African American congressman from Virginia, looks for a manner in which to bring the separate classes of the South -- former slave owners, freed slaves, poor whites, etc. -- together to live in peace in the new post-Civil War national order. He opts for enforcement of new constitutional provisions regarding African Americans but perhaps with some concessions to the old Southern ruling class to enlist their support in rebuilding the South and the Union.