The wars of Reconstruction : the brief, violent history of America's most progressive era / Douglas R. Egerton.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: Robert Vesey's Charleston -- "An eagle on his button": Black men fight for the union -- "To forget and forgive old scores": war's end, activism's beginning -- "All de land belongs to de yankees now": the Freedmen's Bureau -- "The Lord has sent us books and teachers": missionaries and community formation -- "We will remember our friends, and will not forget our enemies": black codes and black conventions -- "Andrew Johnson is but one man": the Progressive Alliance coalesces -- "We knows that much better than you do": voting rights and political service -- "An absolute massacre": white violence and the end of Reconstruction in the South -- "We shall be recognized as men": the Reconstruction Era in memory -- Epilogue: the spirit of freedom monument.