Editing W. E. B. Du Bois (section)

===''Black Reconstruction in America''===
{{main|Black Reconstruction in America}}
[[File:BlackReconstruction.JPG|thumb|150px|''Black Reconstruction in America'', first edition cover, 1935]]

Back in the world of academia, Du Bois was able to resume his study of Reconstruction, the topic of the 1910 paper that he presented to the [[American Historical Association]].<ref>Lemert, Charles C. (2002), ''Dark thoughts: race and the eclipse of society'', Psychology Press, pp. 227–229.</ref> In 1935, he published his magnum opus, ''Black Reconstruction in America''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=576–583}}.</ref><ref>Aptheker, Herbert (1989), ''The literary legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois'', Kraus International Publications, p. 211 (Du Bois called the work his "magnum opus").</ref> The book presented the thesis, in the words of the historian [[David Levering Lewis]], that "black people, suddenly admitted to citizenship in an environment of feral hostility, displayed admirable volition and intelligence as well as the indolence and ignorance inherent in three centuries of bondage."<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=586}}.</ref>

Du Bois documented how black people were central figures in the [[American Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction era]], and also showed how they made alliances with white politicians. He provided evidence that the coalition governments established public education in the South, and many needed social service programs. The book also demonstrated how [[Emancipation Proclamation|black emancipation]] – the crux of Reconstruction – promoted a radical restructuring of United States society, as well as how and why the country failed to continue support for [[civil rights]] for blacks in the aftermath of Reconstruction.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=583–586}}.</ref>

The book's thesis ran counter to the [[Dunning School|orthodox interpretation of Reconstruction]] maintained by white historians, and the book was virtually ignored by mainstream historians until the 1960s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=585–590 (thorough), pp. 583, 593 (ignored)}}.</ref> Thereafter, however, it ignited a "revisionist" trend in the historiography of Reconstruction, which emphasized black people's search for freedom and the era's radical policy changes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foner |first1=Eric |title=Reconstruction Revisited |journal=Reviews in American History |date=1982 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=82–100 |doi=10.2307/2701820 |jstor=2701820 }}</ref><ref>"During the civil rights era, however, it became apparent that Du Bois's scholarship, despite some limitations, had been ahead of its time." {{cite book|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-1-59884-021-6|last=Campbell|first=James M.|author2=Rebecca J. Fraser|author3=Peter C. Mancall|title=Reconstruction: People and Perspectives|year=2008|page=xx}}</ref> By the 21st century, ''Black Reconstruction'' was widely perceived as "the foundational text of revisionist African American historiography."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bilbija |first1=Marina |title=Democracy's New Song: Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880 and the Melodramatic Imagination |journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |date=September 2011 |volume=637 |issue=1 |pages=64–77 |doi=10.1177/0002716211407153 |s2cid=143636000 |quote=W. E. B. Du Bois's (1935/1998) ''Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880'' is commonly regarded as the foundational text of revisionist African American historiography. }}</ref>

In the final chapter of the book, "XIV. The Propaganda of History", Du Bois evokes his efforts at writing an article for the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' on the "history of the American Negro". After the editors had cut all reference to Reconstruction, he insisted that the following note appear in the entry: "White historians have ascribed the faults and failures of Reconstruction to Negro ignorance and corruption. But the Negro insists that it was Negro loyalty and the Negro vote alone that restored the South to the Union; established the new democracy, both for white and black, and instituted the public schools." The editors refused and, so, Du Bois withdrew his article.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Du Bois|first1=W. E. B.|title=Black Reconstruction|url=https://archive.org/details/blackreconstruct00duborich|url-access=registration|date=1935|publisher=Harcourt Brace|page=[https://archive.org/details/blackreconstruct00duborich/page/713 713]}}</ref>