Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice

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A powerful (The Wall Street Journal) biography of one of the 19th centurys greatest statesmen, encompassing his decades-long fight against slavery and his postwar struggle to bring racial justice to America.

Thaddeus Stevens was among the first to see the Civil War as an opportunity for a second American revolutiona chance to remake the country as a genuine multiracial democracy. As one of the foremost abolitionists in Congress in the years leading up to the war, he was a leader of the young Republican Partys radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before party colleagues like Abraham Lincoln endorsed them. These policiesincluding welcoming black men into the Unions armieswould prove crucial to the Union war effort.

During the Reconstruction era that followed, Stevens demanded equal civil and political rights for Black Americansrights eventually embodied in the 14th and 15th amendments. But while Stevens in many ways pushed his partyand Americatowards equality, he also championed ideas too radical for his fellow Congressmen ever to support, such as confiscating large slaveholders estates and dividing the land among those who had been enslaved.

In Thaddeus Stevens, acclaimed historian Bruce Levine has written a vital (The Guardian), compelling (James McPherson) biography of one of the most visionary statesmen of the 19th century and a forgotten champion for racial justice in America.

Reviews

Bruce Levine restores [Stevens] fully to his place in the American pantheon... Afitting monument to one of the most formidable gladiators ever to stride the halls of Congress.
The Wall Street Journal
At last, Thaddeus Stevens, one of the nineteenth centurys greatestproponents of racial justice, gets the biography he deserves. Drawing ona career of scholarly engagement with the Civil War era, Bruce Levineexpertly relates how Stevens navigated the currents of the SecondAmerican Revolution, how he helped to bring about the destruction ofslavery and was a leader in the effort during Reconstruction to make theUnited States a biracial democracy.We need Stevens passion forequality today.
Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofThe Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
He was called everything from Robin Hood to Robespierre to evil genius to fanatic and worse. He was a "radical" in atime when that was not always derogatory. Thisbook reveals in many dimensions a Thaddeus Stevens, who with vicious wit and shrewd political skill, was a primary founder of the second American republic.Throughdeep understanding of all the contexts of the Civil War era and vivid writing,BruceLevine gives us the best biography of this towering figure yet written, and a timely story about the power of racial equality.
David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofFrederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
Often reviled and generally misunderstood, Thaddeus Stevens has been relegated to a dark corner of the American historical stage. The distinguished historian Bruce Levine not only brings Stevens back into the light but also reveals his significance to the revolutionary dynamic of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Levines is a riveting read and a thought-provoking biography, more timely than ever.
Steven Hahn, Pulitzer Prize-winningauthor ofThe Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom
Spirited.
The Civil War Monitor
Vital.
The Guardian
This succinct and compelling biography casts Stevens as a congressional leader of the drive to abolish slavery and implant civil and political equality in the Constitution, though Congress failed in the end to adopt his plan to attack economic inequality by land reform in the reconstructed South.
James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofBattle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
Levine deftly weaves political, social, and intellectual history into eleven brief chapters... helping us to understand 19th-century America as Americans of the time knew it, instead of as Lost Cause advocates reimagined it in the years after the Civil War.
The National Review
Levines book, written in crisp and no-nonsense language succeeds in recovering a richer, more complicated Stevens... Appreciated here in full, his career gives the lie to the oft-repeated idea, common in politics and certain kinds of history, that radical ideals and practical achievements are inevitably and always at odds...Levines study of the neglected, much maligned Stevens offers an opportunity to reflect on what this country might have beenand the merest glimmer of hope for what it might still be.
The Baffler
Levine writes in lucid prose with a great depth of understanding... Its impossible to read this book without seeing a reflection of our own combustible times.
BookPage
This is the fullest, most nuanced, and best written explication of the political career and principles ever written about one of the key figures of nineteenth-century America. It is a major contribution to antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction studies and to American political biography. Anyone interested in how the war evolved and why its aftermath was both so promising and so disappointing needs to read this book.
Stephen V. Ash, author ofA Massacre in Memphis: The Race Riot that Shook the Nation One Year after the Civil War
W.E.B. Du Bois called the pioneering antislavery politician Thaddeus Stevens a seer of democracy. In this superb biography, Bruce Levine has conjured Stevens's bold vision of equality, revealing that Stevens was a profound thinker who saw the essential connection between civil rights and economic rights.Levine deftly traces Stevens's dramatic political journey, with attention to setbacks and missteps as well as to the progress Stevens achieved for America.This is a timely tale of an inspirational leader.
Elizabeth R. Varon, author ofArmies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War
In this taut, authoritative, and much-needed modern biography of Thaddeus Stevens, the benchmark racial egalitarian of the Civil War era, Bruce Levine elegantly captures the steely moral fibre and unwavering political radicalism of an unsettling colleague and formidable foe. This is very fine history. Additionally, Stevens, implacable in the pursuit of racial justice, provides a relevant, stirring, and essential model for our own times.
Richard Carwardine, author ofLincoln's Sense of Humor
At long last,the principled yet astuteThaddeus Stevensis the subject of a sympathetic modern biography. Bruce Levines adept book gives us a compelling portrait of the Radical Republican extraordinaire, especially when he wasat the apex of his political career duringthe Civil War and Reconstruction.
Manisha Sinha, author ofThe Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition
Further refreshes our understanding of this remarkable American figure, who in Bruce Levine's lucid study seems more pertinent than ever on social justice issues.
Pennsylvania Heritage
[F]ascinating an accessible and well-researched introduction to one of the most consequential lawmakers in U.S. history.
Publishers Weekly
Easily the most detailed and important account of Stevens, this well-written biography belongs in every academic library and all other libraries with an emphasis on American history.
Library Journal
[A] fresh approach to the life of abolitionist and congressman Thaddeus Stevens... Levine's biography of the South's much-loathed Northern antagonist is a fine addition to the literature of this ever-relevant era.
Booklist
A convincing rehabilitation of a statesman who fought for equality before it became fashionable.
Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Bruce Levine is thebestselling author of four books on theCivil War era, includingThe Fall of the House of DixieandConfederate Emancipation, whichreceived the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship andwas named one of the top tenworksofnonfictionofitsyear byThe Washington Post.He is aprofessoremeritusof historyat the University of Illinois.