The South Since 1865 Summary

Title: “The South Since 1865”
Author: John Samuel Ezell
Publisher: The Macmillian Company, New York
Length: 511
Reading Time: 2 weeks
Reading Rating: 6 (1=very easy; 10=very difficult)
Overall Rating: 7 (1=poor; 10=Outstanding)

SCOPE
The South Since 1865 delivers an entertaining account and perspective on the drastic changes in the South. This book is an excellent resource to students, educators and history enthusiasts. In reviewing the book, the principal criteria included content, organization, and reference sources. While editing errors and organizational incongruities plague some of the latter chapters, these are only minor distractions to the story being told. Starting with what the south was in 1865. The south is described
as consisting of the states below the Mason-Dixie line, the fifteen governments in which slavery was legal in 1860, or the eleven member of the confederacy. Ezell explain why slavery helped the south economically and why they were so unwilling to abolish it, eventually starting the civil war. “Of all the books about the South there is no end. Nor will there be so long as the south remains the region with the most distinctive character and tradition” (5-6) Meaning it is not geography that makes up the south it is a state of mind. SOURCES
John Samuel Ezell.
March 9, 1917 - Jan. 8, 2001. John Samuel Ezell was born in Louisville, Kentucky March 9, 1917. He was educated at Wake Forest College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and at Harvard University, where he earned his Ph.D. in history in 1947. He served in the United States Naval Reserve forces during World War II, seeing combat as a Deck Officer on various ships in the Atlantic and Pacific, including serving as Captain of the minesweeper YMS 8. He was also a Beach master for the planned invasion of Japan. At the end of the war, he was made Historical Officer for the Third Fleet, for which he wrote the logistical history. He was made a David Ross Boyd Professor (1965) and he received numerous teaching awards, the Superior Teaching Award (1954), the Newby Teaching Award (1963), and the University of Oklahoma Student Association Teaching and Service Award (1986). During his academic career, he was actively engaged in re search, writing, and publishing on topics dealing with the social and cultural history of the American South and
West. Thesis
Ezell’s premise of the book is the education of the South and the new role that it is taking in society today. The south sine 1865 allows the reader to easily follow the evolution of the South. The book is divided into 23 chapters. Opening with The Southern heritage, the book progresses through the defeated south, Southern agriculture, the revolt of farmers, and the southern negro, the religion of the South and finally the progression the South has made over these couple hundred years. The appendices conclude with a bibliographical Essay, and an Index. This format spotlights how far the south has come but also how much farther they need to be. The construction of the book meshes well with its organization and lends itself successfully to the study of different time periods in history staring with 1865. Each chapter is filled with pictures, colorful quotes or graphs. The picture, and graphs gave first hand accounts to provide deeper insight into what most history books is just a listing of factual information. When one of Marcus Garvey supporters described what he was to the black community, the book becomes alive. “So at this time, God has sent a Daniel after us to take us back home to our motherland in Africa whose name is Marcus Garvey who is one of the greatest leaders in the world today, and we Negroes ought to feel proud of him everywhere even in the four corners of the world for he has stood the test and is still standing it yet.” (190-190)
Comparison
This books compared to others is different in that it gives an in depth scope of one particular part of the country when other books will talk about everywhere. It is a book to read if the history of the South is that interests you. Ezell wasn’t born in the 1800’s so it is clear that many years of research was done before writing this book.

Evaluation
I enjoyed this book.
It gave me in depth understanding of the South and the way that they interact with the rest of the country. As a woman from the west coast I only know of the great migration of African Americans from the South to the North. But now I understand it was not just because of the poor way that they were treated but for many more reasons. The couldn’t get work because they were thought of as inferior, and it was made harder for them to vote people of the long lines and the voting tax. ‘The southern Negro’ had to be my favorite chapter. The only thing I disliked was how the book justified why the South wouldn’t free the slaves. The booked looked at in more of an economic
problem. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to someone because it’s more of a mini textbook than a normal reading book. But to scholars who are very interested in this part of history I would, because it is very educational. Anyone who reads will learn something new about the South in 1865 to the present.

U.S. History book review
By Alexandria Carrington
2-20-2013