Much of the violence that characterized Reconstruction was directly associated with the Negro militia movement organized by Radical politicians to support their

In Show Thyself a Man, Gregory Mixon explores the ways African Americans in postbellum Georgia used the militia as a vehicle to secure full citizenship, respect

Within two months of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865, the Confederacy had collapsed, and its armed force

The end of the Civil War was a hopeful beginning for African Americans. Although Lincoln left no definite plan for reconstruction, many supported one, and event

On Easter Sunday, 1873, in the tiny hamlet of Colfax, Louisiana, more than 150 members of an all-black Republican militia, defending the town's courthouse, were