The Questions That Most Need Asking
The Atlantic revisits Reconstruction.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of “On Reconstruction,” a project about America’s most radical experiment.
“R by Frederick Douglass, appeared in the . It was the most important article that published in the immediate postwar era. It was also, for its time, unusually concise, coming in at a mere 2,703 words. By contrast, ’s , written by James Russell Lowell, had run to 7,331 words, and Lincoln himself was not mentioned until the 1,747th word. (The editorial did succeed, of course. And yes, I’m taking credit on behalf of for Lincoln’s presidency.)
