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I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction
From a groundbreaking scholar, a heart-wrenching reexamination of the struggle for survival in the Reconstruction-era South, and what it cost.
The story of Reconstruction is often told from the perspective of the politicians, generals, and journalists whose accounts claim an outsized place in collective memory. But this pivotal era looked very different to African Americans in the South transitioning from bondage to freedom after 1865. They were besieged by a campaign of white supremacist violence that persisted through the 1880s and beyond. For too long, their lived experiences have been sidelined, impoverishing our understanding of the obstacles post–Civil War Black families faced, their inspiring determination to survive, and the physical and emotional scars they bore because of it.
In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades—indeed, generations—to come.
For readers of Carol Anderson, Tiya Miles, and Clint Smith, I Saw Death Coming is an indelible and essential book that speaks to some of the most pressing questions of our times.
The story of Reconstruction is often told from the perspective of the politicians, generals, and journalists whose accounts claim an outsized place in collective memory. But this pivotal era looked very different to African Americans in the South transitioning from bondage to freedom after 1865. They were besieged by a campaign of white supremacist violence that persisted through the 1880s and beyond. For too long, their lived experiences have been sidelined, impoverishing our understanding of the obstacles post–Civil War Black families faced, their inspiring determination to survive, and the physical and emotional scars they bore because of it.
In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades—indeed, generations—to come.
For readers of Carol Anderson, Tiya Miles, and Clint Smith, I Saw Death Coming is an indelible and essential book that speaks to some of the most pressing questions of our times.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
September 16, 2023
In essence, the loss of the Civil War, the 1866 Civil Rights Act, and the social, political, and political protections and freedoms guaranteed to freedmen via the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments infuriated Southern Whites to the point they resorted to extreme violence, maiming and assassinations/murder to control the Black majority relegating them to slavery-era conditions. Social and legal equality and political power proved to be elusive to most Blacks during Reconstruction in the South (even in areas where freedmen vastly outnumbered White citizens). Reconstruction and all its promises and programs were resisted and foiled by Southern Whites; as much as Blacks fought for their rights, Whites were galvanized against it – in many ways, a war - a War on Freedom continued.
This novel contains fact-based, well-documented, and corroborated first person accounts of the intimidation, injustice and lawlessness inflicted upon freedmen, their families, and communities in their pursuit to exercise their rights to own property, vote, etc. I particularly marveled at the tactics White Southerners used to dispel and misconstrue these eye-witness accounts and justify of their atrocious actions – tactics such as deflection, self-defense, voter repression, and protection of “their” rights (while blatantly suppressing the rights of others) still in use today. I admired the strength and determination that Blacks mustered to live through Ku Klux Klan raids, constant fear, trepidation, and consternation; but most of all the bravery and perseverance of the survivors to tell their stories many knowing that harsh repercussions could ensue). Their stories are heartbreaking.
I found this collection carefully crafted. For example, the author gives context to the political happenings and social climate of the period in layman’s terms which makes it very easy to read and comprehend. Another example is in many instances, the author gave background information about the affected families - their talents, their dreams, their ingenuity and willingness to work and hustle hard to secure their future for themselves and invest for future generations. They were poised to do well, to succeed…all they wanted was the opportunity to try. Instead so much was destroyed out of hate and spite – these accounts were heart-breaking. I questioned why, but I know the answers. I wonder if their present day descendants are aware of their family histories, of what their ancestors’ endured. As painful as some of the passages were to read; these stories need to be retained, taught, and treasured.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review in exchange for an honest review.
This novel contains fact-based, well-documented, and corroborated first person accounts of the intimidation, injustice and lawlessness inflicted upon freedmen, their families, and communities in their pursuit to exercise their rights to own property, vote, etc. I particularly marveled at the tactics White Southerners used to dispel and misconstrue these eye-witness accounts and justify of their atrocious actions – tactics such as deflection, self-defense, voter repression, and protection of “their” rights (while blatantly suppressing the rights of others) still in use today. I admired the strength and determination that Blacks mustered to live through Ku Klux Klan raids, constant fear, trepidation, and consternation; but most of all the bravery and perseverance of the survivors to tell their stories many knowing that harsh repercussions could ensue). Their stories are heartbreaking.
I found this collection carefully crafted. For example, the author gives context to the political happenings and social climate of the period in layman’s terms which makes it very easy to read and comprehend. Another example is in many instances, the author gave background information about the affected families - their talents, their dreams, their ingenuity and willingness to work and hustle hard to secure their future for themselves and invest for future generations. They were poised to do well, to succeed…all they wanted was the opportunity to try. Instead so much was destroyed out of hate and spite – these accounts were heart-breaking. I questioned why, but I know the answers. I wonder if their present day descendants are aware of their family histories, of what their ancestors’ endured. As painful as some of the passages were to read; these stories need to be retained, taught, and treasured.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review in exchange for an honest review.
December 1, 2025
Kidada Williams has written an important work that focuses on the tragic experiences that Black folks experienced in the South after the Civil War and how they responded to them. This is the side of Reconstruction that is seldom covered; most historians tend to focus on the big political and institutional actors. However, Williams gives us an in-depth analysis using first-hand testimonials from the people who experienced "visits" from white supremacist vigilantes.
Williams teaches us that anytime you hear someone say that Reconstruction "failed", know that is the language that is used by proponents of the Lost Cause mythology promoted by Confederate sympathizers. Reconstruction did not fail; it was "overthrown" by attacking, killing, and terrorizing Black people and their families.
Williams makes this book real to the reader by letting the people who were affected by this violence speak for themselves and by showing the similarities this coordinated act of violence has with our modern psychological conceptions of genocidal practices and post-traumatic stress disorder. She also makes sure to highlight how courageous these Black folks were in fighting back through their own militias and in reporting what was done to them either to the courts or through testimony to federal officials.
Lastly, near the end of the book, I was also fascinated by how the partisan press and elected politicians covered these violent events and how similar the arguments were to what we see today in our polarized political landscape.
Williams teaches us that anytime you hear someone say that Reconstruction "failed", know that is the language that is used by proponents of the Lost Cause mythology promoted by Confederate sympathizers. Reconstruction did not fail; it was "overthrown" by attacking, killing, and terrorizing Black people and their families.
Williams makes this book real to the reader by letting the people who were affected by this violence speak for themselves and by showing the similarities this coordinated act of violence has with our modern psychological conceptions of genocidal practices and post-traumatic stress disorder. She also makes sure to highlight how courageous these Black folks were in fighting back through their own militias and in reporting what was done to them either to the courts or through testimony to federal officials.
Lastly, near the end of the book, I was also fascinated by how the partisan press and elected politicians covered these violent events and how similar the arguments were to what we see today in our polarized political landscape.
October 18, 2024
In this excellent book on Reconstruction, the author extensively researches the plight of African Americans. The Reconstruction has traditionally been overlooked or for lost causers, painted to be a time where horrible people from the North invaded and destroyed the place. Fortunately, more recent scholarship has been correcting that nonsense.
What this book does is describe the lives of freedmen and detail the horrendous abuse that was done to them by the racists in the South. People who had been able to purchase land and begin to make a life for themselves moving toward prosperity were the victims of the worst terrorism that has ever been perpetrated in this country. Moreover, they had no recourse after it happened and the strikes, as they were referred to by the victims, never just occurred once. The Klan or whatever white terrorists that were roaming the area at any particular time, came back repeatedly. The goal was not alone to steal and destroy any property that the people may have accumulated, but to prevent them practicing their vote or any other rights that they were so recently accorded. They wanted to make sure that blacks knew their place and kowtowed to the white race.
These terrorists were not satisfied to go after the head of the household (although the man was their prime target), they brutalized their wives and their children as well. There is a description of a 3 week old baby being hurled across a room. And fighting back wasn't really an option since the terrorists were well-armed and traveled in large groups. There was virtually no hope of justice being done because those in charge either did not care or were one of the raiding party. In one instance, there is a story of a man having been terribly beaten and searching for the doctor. He was unable to find him until it emerged that the doctor was amongst the terrorists who had brutalized the man and his family.
Anyone who has any doubt that there should be reparations for African Americans should read this book- along with the other scholarship which argues for it. Williams argues with compassion and does it vey articulately.
What this book does is describe the lives of freedmen and detail the horrendous abuse that was done to them by the racists in the South. People who had been able to purchase land and begin to make a life for themselves moving toward prosperity were the victims of the worst terrorism that has ever been perpetrated in this country. Moreover, they had no recourse after it happened and the strikes, as they were referred to by the victims, never just occurred once. The Klan or whatever white terrorists that were roaming the area at any particular time, came back repeatedly. The goal was not alone to steal and destroy any property that the people may have accumulated, but to prevent them practicing their vote or any other rights that they were so recently accorded. They wanted to make sure that blacks knew their place and kowtowed to the white race.
These terrorists were not satisfied to go after the head of the household (although the man was their prime target), they brutalized their wives and their children as well. There is a description of a 3 week old baby being hurled across a room. And fighting back wasn't really an option since the terrorists were well-armed and traveled in large groups. There was virtually no hope of justice being done because those in charge either did not care or were one of the raiding party. In one instance, there is a story of a man having been terribly beaten and searching for the doctor. He was unable to find him until it emerged that the doctor was amongst the terrorists who had brutalized the man and his family.
Anyone who has any doubt that there should be reparations for African Americans should read this book- along with the other scholarship which argues for it. Williams argues with compassion and does it vey articulately.
June 16, 2023
Reconstruction isn’t the usual period I go for when picking up a history book, but this was fantastically written and so informative. It was well researched and told such incredible and heartbreaking stories on violence against freed slaves after the Civil War ended and the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. It told stories of intimidation and violence against freedmen trying to gain their rightful property and status as citizens in the still segregated south, as well as the tactics that white conservatives employed to do that. It could be a bit slow in spots, but I really liked the way it was written.
December 11, 2022
I Saw Death Coming is a close look at the violence Black families faced under the failure of the government to enforce policies during Reconstruction. Williams does a fantastic job interweaving several families’ experiences with context of the political and social time period. I Saw Death Coming was, overall, an engaging read that reminded me both of Carol Anderson and Svetlana Alexievich’s writing. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in reading about Reconstruction. Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
October 8, 2023
Kadida Williams uses her skills as a seasoned historian and as a writer to give us a powerful revisionist history of Reconstruction.
The newly freed slaves greeted the promises of Reconstruction with hope, a willingness to accept the challenges of freedom by building wealth, schools, and churches and assuming the duties of citizenship. The response of former confederates was essentially to form a shadow army that waged a systematic guerilla war of terror employing horrific violence against their former slaves to reestablish the antebellum order. Taking narratives straight from the testimony that courageous Black families gave to the Freedmen's Bureau, Congressional hearings, and the WPA in the 1930s, Williams pulls no punches. We encounter the families as real people as voting was met with assault and assassination, schools, homes, churches were burned down, and as masked Night Riders, aka Ku Kluxers, struck under cover of darkness. Freed people suffered rape, mutilation, assault and murder.The survivors were often left permanently disabled. Children, the disabled, and the elderly were not exempt from the violence. She notes that their testimonies, given at great risk and hardship to Congress, allowed them to demonstrate that they were able to met the demands of freedom and citizenship, to vote and assume public office, and to build houses, establish profitable farms and businesses. She also uses contemporary knowledge of trauma to help understand the true horror and damage done by the Night Riders.
Williams writes of how this painful history disappeared and was replaced by the false narratives trumpeted by Southern whites and conservatives. In and outside of Congress, they denied, diminished, and rejected the claims of victims. The press reports were too sporadic to sufficiently impress white readers with the true nature of the violence and terror. A negative history of Reconstruction and the myth of the Lost Cause were embraced by both generations of historians and Americans in general.
Even though the former slaves lost the war, rarely saw their attackers arrested, let alone, convicted, and the South fell under the rule of Jim Crow where lynching replaced Night rides, Black familes passed down their stories of life under Reconstruction and the archives were there for subsequent generations of historians to find and correct the history. Williams gives us an excellent list of these history books. She quotes two of my favorite writers, novelist Attica Locke and historian Eric Foner, and beautifully references Lift Every Voice and Sing and honors the Black family that is the center of her story.
Williams' book is one of the best of all the recent African American histories have read (and I have read many). It reminds us that history can disappear if influential people are able to silence the victims in favor of propaganda and lies in order to take power and to feel justified and comfortable.
The book also makes a strong case for reparations, although that is neither the subject nor the purpose of the book.
May the families we have met here, rest is peace and glory.
The newly freed slaves greeted the promises of Reconstruction with hope, a willingness to accept the challenges of freedom by building wealth, schools, and churches and assuming the duties of citizenship. The response of former confederates was essentially to form a shadow army that waged a systematic guerilla war of terror employing horrific violence against their former slaves to reestablish the antebellum order. Taking narratives straight from the testimony that courageous Black families gave to the Freedmen's Bureau, Congressional hearings, and the WPA in the 1930s, Williams pulls no punches. We encounter the families as real people as voting was met with assault and assassination, schools, homes, churches were burned down, and as masked Night Riders, aka Ku Kluxers, struck under cover of darkness. Freed people suffered rape, mutilation, assault and murder.The survivors were often left permanently disabled. Children, the disabled, and the elderly were not exempt from the violence. She notes that their testimonies, given at great risk and hardship to Congress, allowed them to demonstrate that they were able to met the demands of freedom and citizenship, to vote and assume public office, and to build houses, establish profitable farms and businesses. She also uses contemporary knowledge of trauma to help understand the true horror and damage done by the Night Riders.
Williams writes of how this painful history disappeared and was replaced by the false narratives trumpeted by Southern whites and conservatives. In and outside of Congress, they denied, diminished, and rejected the claims of victims. The press reports were too sporadic to sufficiently impress white readers with the true nature of the violence and terror. A negative history of Reconstruction and the myth of the Lost Cause were embraced by both generations of historians and Americans in general.
Even though the former slaves lost the war, rarely saw their attackers arrested, let alone, convicted, and the South fell under the rule of Jim Crow where lynching replaced Night rides, Black familes passed down their stories of life under Reconstruction and the archives were there for subsequent generations of historians to find and correct the history. Williams gives us an excellent list of these history books. She quotes two of my favorite writers, novelist Attica Locke and historian Eric Foner, and beautifully references Lift Every Voice and Sing and honors the Black family that is the center of her story.
Williams' book is one of the best of all the recent African American histories have read (and I have read many). It reminds us that history can disappear if influential people are able to silence the victims in favor of propaganda and lies in order to take power and to feel justified and comfortable.
The book also makes a strong case for reparations, although that is neither the subject nor the purpose of the book.
May the families we have met here, rest is peace and glory.
March 26, 2024
The book is primarily a bearing of witness, but interestingly merged with some trenchant psychological & psychosocial analysis. It makes for a gripping historical account of the terrors that Black individuals—and Black society as whole—underwent during & after Reconstruction. I’ve read quite a few histories & books about race in America, but this is one of those like
The New Jim Crow
that really just make you fully see what you thought you already knew, and make you realize you had no idea. Can’t recommend this enough, if you want to have some visceral sense of the power of race in American history.
March 19, 2023
An empathetic and rigorous history that places at its center the Black citizens who were terrorized by white vigilantes in the Reconstruction era. It makes clear the total "world-unfurling" devastation that these attacks caused along with the utter lack of political, judicial, social, and economic justice.This is a harrowing, but necessary, book, for white Americans to read.
December 12, 2023
Reads like a research paper
June 9, 2024
A tremendously well researched book about what really happened during the Reconstruction period in the South after the Civil War. This was a second war against recently freed Blacks as they sought equality but were forced into submission by Ku Kluxers and night riders who terrorized countless families in the South from 1866 through 1880. Williams writes with specific examples that blow the Southern whites "lost cause" myth out of the water. She leaves no stone unturned as she builds her airtight case.
Read
February 3, 2026A harrowing collection of the atrocities committed by insurrectionists against the newly freed Black population of the South after the Civil War.
The author outlines how these attacks destroyed the lives of these people, not only directly after the attacks, but across years. People were killed, abused, and maimed. Property was stolen and destroyed. And threats were constant.
Through these horrors, the survivors tried to pick themselves up and to continue to survive, even when the white population of the US and those in power chose to forget about them.
The author outlines how these attacks destroyed the lives of these people, not only directly after the attacks, but across years. People were killed, abused, and maimed. Property was stolen and destroyed. And threats were constant.
Through these horrors, the survivors tried to pick themselves up and to continue to survive, even when the white population of the US and those in power chose to forget about them.
February 5, 2024
Author used first hand accounts and testimonials and WPA interviews to document white Christian terrorists in slave states who tried to make 13th 14th and 25th amendments go away.
Has 1 map, extensive bibliographic notes.
Has 1 map, extensive bibliographic notes.
April 15, 2023
Excellent narrative about a critical missing piece of history. When stories like this get lost - or tossed aside - everyone loses. As difficult as it can be to read some of the individual anecdotes, if we look away we are continuing our willful ignorance and passing it down. That's no way to build a more equitable society.
October 26, 2022
I Saw Death Coming by Kidada E Williams is an intimate look at the violence, as well as the country's missed opportunity to begin to live up to its ideals, during the period of Reconstruction and shortly after.
After establishing some foundational information upon which the research is to be considered, Williams allows us to hear about what happened largely through the words of those who experienced it. It is this combination of personal accounts and well-researched analysis that makes this a powerful read.
I have to wonder about what baggage a reader is bringing to the topic when the issue is that systemic genocide wasn't proven in the book. Maybe they didn't actually read the book, I don't know. But here, in Williams' own words, is the counter to the disingenuous criticism. "The association of Reconstruction violence with genocide may seem hyperbolic and contrary to the stories we've been told again and again about Reconstruction's supposed "failure." Confederate extremists did not kill all African Americans. And there is no evidence that Americans pursuing the Confederate cause and their supporters organized to plan genocide. But racially conservative white southerners' intentions should not outweigh the effect of their actions on Black peoples' lives." Enough said, I don't want to even consider what the mindset of someone who makes such as asinine complaint actually is, just happy not to have the stench in my life.
For those who are open to truth, Williams uses the UN definition of genocide and genocidal action to help position what took place, as well as recent research in critical trauma studies, to look at the violence of the period (and, frankly, the continued violence to this day) using the firsthand accounts of survivors. It is both tremendously moving as well as very enlightening. Well, for those who want to look critically at what happened rather than play word games to downplay the violence and terrorism.
Highly recommended for those interested in history, particularly Civil War and Reconstruction, as well as those wanting to better understand how past trauma is passed down to following generations. Those with an interest in history as told by those who lived it, this will be a rich volume for you.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
After establishing some foundational information upon which the research is to be considered, Williams allows us to hear about what happened largely through the words of those who experienced it. It is this combination of personal accounts and well-researched analysis that makes this a powerful read.
I have to wonder about what baggage a reader is bringing to the topic when the issue is that systemic genocide wasn't proven in the book. Maybe they didn't actually read the book, I don't know. But here, in Williams' own words, is the counter to the disingenuous criticism. "The association of Reconstruction violence with genocide may seem hyperbolic and contrary to the stories we've been told again and again about Reconstruction's supposed "failure." Confederate extremists did not kill all African Americans. And there is no evidence that Americans pursuing the Confederate cause and their supporters organized to plan genocide. But racially conservative white southerners' intentions should not outweigh the effect of their actions on Black peoples' lives." Enough said, I don't want to even consider what the mindset of someone who makes such as asinine complaint actually is, just happy not to have the stench in my life.
For those who are open to truth, Williams uses the UN definition of genocide and genocidal action to help position what took place, as well as recent research in critical trauma studies, to look at the violence of the period (and, frankly, the continued violence to this day) using the firsthand accounts of survivors. It is both tremendously moving as well as very enlightening. Well, for those who want to look critically at what happened rather than play word games to downplay the violence and terrorism.
Highly recommended for those interested in history, particularly Civil War and Reconstruction, as well as those wanting to better understand how past trauma is passed down to following generations. Those with an interest in history as told by those who lived it, this will be a rich volume for you.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
June 27, 2023
The subject matter of this book was very challenging. I read a lot of history and have read histories of many unsavory events. This work outraged me and riled me up like nothing I have ever read before. The writing was not inflammatory, the content was. The depravity, cruelty and cowardice of the atrocities depicted in plain factual terms was really confronting. I did not ‘enjoy’ this book, but I am glad that I have read it. It is important.
The saddest and most confronting element of this subject is the fact that many States and politicians in the USA are still trying to disenfranchise various Black communities in so many insidious ways. By making it more difficult for Black citizens to vote. By the prevention of the teaching of reconciliation-improving-history and the outright historical whitewashing of the horrors of Slavery, The Reconstruction and Jim Crow periods. The promotion of ‘alternative fact’ mythologies such as the myth of Southern Good Manners and Chivalry, or the mythology of the Lost Cause. After WWII, Allied Soldiers forced local Germans to witness the atrocities of the Third Reich death camps in their midst, South Africa conducted Truth and Reconciliation trials for years - The deniers of this American history should be forced to watch it, read it, learn it - CLOCKWORK ORANGE style, involuntary-eyelid-spreaders and all.
Fuck the US Federal Government for not protecting these people. Fuck the Supreme Court for rolling back protections in the Voting Rights Act. Fuck all the Southern and Republican States for making it increasingly difficult for Black people to vote, for interfering with the real, albeit unpleasant history education in their schools, for defending statues of racist Confederate losers. Fuck Georgia. Fuck North Carolina. Fuck South Carolina. Fuck Texas. Fuck Florida. Fuck Mississippi. Fuck Alabama. Fuck Missouri. Fuck Tennessee, Fuck Louisiana. Fuck the Daughters of the Confederacy. Fuck the bigoted inclinations of the contemporary Republican party.
The saddest and most confronting element of this subject is the fact that many States and politicians in the USA are still trying to disenfranchise various Black communities in so many insidious ways. By making it more difficult for Black citizens to vote. By the prevention of the teaching of reconciliation-improving-history and the outright historical whitewashing of the horrors of Slavery, The Reconstruction and Jim Crow periods. The promotion of ‘alternative fact’ mythologies such as the myth of Southern Good Manners and Chivalry, or the mythology of the Lost Cause. After WWII, Allied Soldiers forced local Germans to witness the atrocities of the Third Reich death camps in their midst, South Africa conducted Truth and Reconciliation trials for years - The deniers of this American history should be forced to watch it, read it, learn it - CLOCKWORK ORANGE style, involuntary-eyelid-spreaders and all.
Fuck the US Federal Government for not protecting these people. Fuck the Supreme Court for rolling back protections in the Voting Rights Act. Fuck all the Southern and Republican States for making it increasingly difficult for Black people to vote, for interfering with the real, albeit unpleasant history education in their schools, for defending statues of racist Confederate losers. Fuck Georgia. Fuck North Carolina. Fuck South Carolina. Fuck Texas. Fuck Florida. Fuck Mississippi. Fuck Alabama. Fuck Missouri. Fuck Tennessee, Fuck Louisiana. Fuck the Daughters of the Confederacy. Fuck the bigoted inclinations of the contemporary Republican party.
May 21, 2023
There seem to be two versions of this book available: same principal title but with different subtitles.
This is certainly a grim and disturbing book to read, but I am glad I did so. I have read several books about the Civil War and the ensuing reconstruction period, but most of those focused on the U.S. Grant years when it seem the government was making a small effort to help freed people to access the rights granted them under the constitution. But evidently white supremicist bigotry, jealousy, and hatred were rampant through the South for several years. It is very disturbing to think of how long the violence continued into the twentieth century, and even more disturbing with the Republican extreme right promoting white supremecy, bigotry, and the white-washing the history that should be teaching us so much. I am guessing this book will be removed from many library shelves in the red states.
My one disappointment in the book was that it seemed narrowly researched. It focused primarly on the terrible experiences of two or three dozen families, adding more about the trauma and consequences resulting from the "visits" in each chapter. I would have loved a lot more in the way of political background information, and the political climate in all areas of the union during these years (excerpts from editorials or newspaper letters for instance.) Are there any surviving records of interviews with some of the Klu Kluxers? Did any express remorse (even years after the incidents?) I know that many claimed thery were acting against violence by the freed people, but surely they knew this was not true. How did they justify their actions to themselves, especially when some knew the victims and in some cases were recognized by victims who thought they had good relations with their tormenters?
Sorry to say we still seem decades away from a society where all people can live in peace and experience the respect every person deserves.
This is certainly a grim and disturbing book to read, but I am glad I did so. I have read several books about the Civil War and the ensuing reconstruction period, but most of those focused on the U.S. Grant years when it seem the government was making a small effort to help freed people to access the rights granted them under the constitution. But evidently white supremicist bigotry, jealousy, and hatred were rampant through the South for several years. It is very disturbing to think of how long the violence continued into the twentieth century, and even more disturbing with the Republican extreme right promoting white supremecy, bigotry, and the white-washing the history that should be teaching us so much. I am guessing this book will be removed from many library shelves in the red states.
My one disappointment in the book was that it seemed narrowly researched. It focused primarly on the terrible experiences of two or three dozen families, adding more about the trauma and consequences resulting from the "visits" in each chapter. I would have loved a lot more in the way of political background information, and the political climate in all areas of the union during these years (excerpts from editorials or newspaper letters for instance.) Are there any surviving records of interviews with some of the Klu Kluxers? Did any express remorse (even years after the incidents?) I know that many claimed thery were acting against violence by the freed people, but surely they knew this was not true. How did they justify their actions to themselves, especially when some knew the victims and in some cases were recognized by victims who thought they had good relations with their tormenters?
Sorry to say we still seem decades away from a society where all people can live in peace and experience the respect every person deserves.
November 11, 2022
I Saw Death Coming is a detailed look at the violence and attacks conducted by extremists in the period of Reconstruction following the Civil War. The narrative is composed primarily through the collection of personal testimonies gathered from the congressional report following the 1871-1872 KKK hearings as well as interviews conducted by the Works Progress Administration. These testimonies shine a light on the long-term struggles individuals, and their families, experienced while attempting to carve out a life when many were experiencing freedom for the first time. The narrative hammers home the far reaching impact the violence would have as the impact was far beyond physical injury or death, as many experienced the loss of their homes, their employment, crops, or their possessions. The end result is a book with an important story to tell, and well worth reading.
Review based on an ARC provided by the publisher.
Review based on an ARC provided by the publisher.
July 9, 2024
Most of what I learned in school regarding Reconstruction, I realize now, was about the machinations of various politicians- mostly white, with some reference to the brave African-Americans that managed to win office in the midst of violence and fraud. But there wasn’t a lot of voice given to common freed people. I learned a lot from Kidada E. Williams’ detailed, analytical writing about “night rides”, or terrorist attacks on black families by violent groups of Klan members, which she based chiefly on Congressional testimony given by victims in 1871.
This book is quite dry and scholarly, with lots of footnotes, but that’s what I prefer. I liked the narrow focus and the fact that the author allowed the horrifying facts to stand on their own, allowing the prosaic language to make her readers focus on the facts of the violence. And I liked that she included a good amount of discussion about the historiography of writing on Reconstruction, how our current narratives came to be.
Williams vividly illustrates many aspects of these terror attacks that I had not considered before. Because these attacks occurred at night and in the home, entire families were roused from sleep and bewildered, and children were usually present.
I appreciated that she brought modern knowledge of psychology and trauma into her analysis, as she attempts to parse the relatively spare historical record for human emotional responses like memory loss and shock.
She addressed the disintegration of black community ties, as neighbors and loved ones were terrified of also being targeted and could not fulfill the supportive role they normally had.
Williams discussed the need to gather evidence during and after these disorienting, unexpected attacks. One of the most memorable stories involves a man whose peanuts were stolen during a raid, who then followed a trail of shells all the way back to one of his attackers’ houses.
She also discussed the vulnerability of black families who lived in rural hamlets, where neighbors lived far away and witnesses were few. One family she describes moved from rural South Carolina to the city limits of Spartanburg, then finally to the middle of Spartanburg itself, attempting to avoid further attacks by locating themselves on an urban street. Damaging consequences of this included the separation of family members and the loss of the land/other wealth accumulated by freed people after the Civil War. I was also struck by the fact that many of these refugees were now forced to work for wages in the mainstream capitalist system, and forced to give up the modicum of financial independence they had attained after the Civil War.
I also learned from the author’s discussion of so-called “exoduster” migrants. At this link from the Library of Congress I found this population map from 1890, where considerable numbers of southern African Americans were already shown moving to California and midwestern/northeastern metropolises.
This book made me wonder at what an extraordinary level of violence these Klan members were willing to commit, just 150 years ago. I feel like most adult men today rarely or never get into physical altercations, even in incidents like road rage or being personally insulted, so it just boggles the mind to realize how cheap life- and especially black life- used to be.
It also made me marvel at the long reach and pervasiveness of white supremacy after these attacks. Men were hounded out of town and separated from their families, and could not trust letters to communicate because white postal employees were monitoring the mail. Their homes and property were stolen or repossessed in their absence because they could not attend to their business affairs. One man was even followed to another town by his attackers and had to resist capture for a week. And yet, on the other hand, an attack victim who attempted to organize an emigration of black community members out of the United States was also threatened. One comes away wondering whether Klan members really wanted them gone, or wanted them around to continue to suffer their terror.
One thing she didn’t address (and it’s not like she needed to, I just enjoy this kind of analysis) is what role white women played (if any) in these terror attacks. This sort of behavior is usually seen in men rather than women, but we know of some female participants in recent violent political acts. I wonder whether women affiliated with male attackers ever participated, including during the planning or cover up stages.
A few brief criticisms:
One, it’s really hard to keep track of who is who, especially if (like me) you were listening via audiobook. This made me uncomfortable in the sense that I was sort of failing to bear witness to a real person’s real story. However, in the end the kaleidoscopic effect added to her point, that each tragedy- whole and terrible in itself- blurred together into an epidemic of terroristic violence.
Two, her use of the terms “progressive,” “conservative” and “right wing” felt odd and jolted me out of the narrative. I don’t think we should always use the terms that historical groups used for themselves, because often they were chosen for propagandistic purposes. But I don’t think those terms track neatly into the way we use them today, and I would’ve preferred either the historical appellations (ie, “Radical Republican” rather than “progressive”), or for Williams to coin her own terms.
4/5 stars. This book had many details and stories that I will remember for a long time.
This book is quite dry and scholarly, with lots of footnotes, but that’s what I prefer. I liked the narrow focus and the fact that the author allowed the horrifying facts to stand on their own, allowing the prosaic language to make her readers focus on the facts of the violence. And I liked that she included a good amount of discussion about the historiography of writing on Reconstruction, how our current narratives came to be.
Williams vividly illustrates many aspects of these terror attacks that I had not considered before. Because these attacks occurred at night and in the home, entire families were roused from sleep and bewildered, and children were usually present.
I appreciated that she brought modern knowledge of psychology and trauma into her analysis, as she attempts to parse the relatively spare historical record for human emotional responses like memory loss and shock.
She addressed the disintegration of black community ties, as neighbors and loved ones were terrified of also being targeted and could not fulfill the supportive role they normally had.
Williams discussed the need to gather evidence during and after these disorienting, unexpected attacks. One of the most memorable stories involves a man whose peanuts were stolen during a raid, who then followed a trail of shells all the way back to one of his attackers’ houses.
She also discussed the vulnerability of black families who lived in rural hamlets, where neighbors lived far away and witnesses were few. One family she describes moved from rural South Carolina to the city limits of Spartanburg, then finally to the middle of Spartanburg itself, attempting to avoid further attacks by locating themselves on an urban street. Damaging consequences of this included the separation of family members and the loss of the land/other wealth accumulated by freed people after the Civil War. I was also struck by the fact that many of these refugees were now forced to work for wages in the mainstream capitalist system, and forced to give up the modicum of financial independence they had attained after the Civil War.
I also learned from the author’s discussion of so-called “exoduster” migrants. At this link from the Library of Congress I found this population map from 1890, where considerable numbers of southern African Americans were already shown moving to California and midwestern/northeastern metropolises.
This book made me wonder at what an extraordinary level of violence these Klan members were willing to commit, just 150 years ago. I feel like most adult men today rarely or never get into physical altercations, even in incidents like road rage or being personally insulted, so it just boggles the mind to realize how cheap life- and especially black life- used to be.
It also made me marvel at the long reach and pervasiveness of white supremacy after these attacks. Men were hounded out of town and separated from their families, and could not trust letters to communicate because white postal employees were monitoring the mail. Their homes and property were stolen or repossessed in their absence because they could not attend to their business affairs. One man was even followed to another town by his attackers and had to resist capture for a week. And yet, on the other hand, an attack victim who attempted to organize an emigration of black community members out of the United States was also threatened. One comes away wondering whether Klan members really wanted them gone, or wanted them around to continue to suffer their terror.
One thing she didn’t address (and it’s not like she needed to, I just enjoy this kind of analysis) is what role white women played (if any) in these terror attacks. This sort of behavior is usually seen in men rather than women, but we know of some female participants in recent violent political acts. I wonder whether women affiliated with male attackers ever participated, including during the planning or cover up stages.
A few brief criticisms:
One, it’s really hard to keep track of who is who, especially if (like me) you were listening via audiobook. This made me uncomfortable in the sense that I was sort of failing to bear witness to a real person’s real story. However, in the end the kaleidoscopic effect added to her point, that each tragedy- whole and terrible in itself- blurred together into an epidemic of terroristic violence.
Two, her use of the terms “progressive,” “conservative” and “right wing” felt odd and jolted me out of the narrative. I don’t think we should always use the terms that historical groups used for themselves, because often they were chosen for propagandistic purposes. But I don’t think those terms track neatly into the way we use them today, and I would’ve preferred either the historical appellations (ie, “Radical Republican” rather than “progressive”), or for Williams to coin her own terms.
4/5 stars. This book had many details and stories that I will remember for a long time.
October 15, 2023
Review title: Silent war
The retrenchment of Black citizens' rights after 1876 has been accepted as the "failure" of Reconstruction. Williams uses first-hand testimony and census records to argue forcefully that this result was not a failure but a deliberate and planned result of a violent undeclared war against Black citizens that was perpetrated by unrepentant ex-Confederates, accepted by white citizens, and encoded into Jim Crow laws, regulations, and institutions that systemically blocked Black citizens from equal participation in American life:
Williams builds her history based on historical sources (the 1871 Congressional inquiry "into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States", p. xviii, and the Works Progress Administration interviews with the last living freed people in the 1930s, p. xxii) to show how ex-Confederates used violence to maintain control of institutions and elections "despite not constituting the majority of the population" (p. 50) in many districts. Direct physical violence and death in 1867-1868 were necessary because "once these [newly-enfranchised Black] men began voting, they did not stop of their own volition." (p. 52). As Ibram X. Kendi documents in Stamped From the Beginning, his powerful examination of racist ideas in America, the direct action was based on older racist ideas then codified in laws that for the next 100 years legally negated the volition of free voters. Violent terrorism worked because "federal lawmakers enacted policies without acknowledging southern white men's ability to maintain legal authority over Black people through their domination of local legal systems." (p. 54)
Attacks on Black people in their homes magnified the terror as it destroyed literally or emotionally the home as a place of safety. Surprise attacks on Black people magnified the terror as it destroyed literally or emotionally the community as a place of safety. According to one victim of a night-riders attack: "We did not know we had an enemy in the world. We had very nice neighbors there.". Her adult son was shot and killed and other members of her family wounded (p. 79-80).
In the aftermath of an attack, there was still no peace. "Survivors priorities--escaping, avoiding more violence, identifying secure spaces--often vied with one another." (p. 131). And they could expect little or no support from the law, medicine, police, or religion because many times their attackers came from these potential sources of support and tacitly if not openly supported and commuted the attacks. Doctors might refuse treatment if the survivor couldn't pay cash (p. 135), and one found the doctor he resorted to absent because the doctor had been on the attack that wounded him (p. 138). Many fled to save their lives or escape the mental anguish of flashbacks triggered by sights and sounds that reminded them of the past and raised fear of a repeat.
Testifying in criminal cases about the attacks or in the 1871 Congressional inquiry risked reprisals, facing "perpetrators on the jury" (p. 200), or questions that tried to minimize the harm or shift blame from the attackers to the victims. When one Black attack survivor testified "What they did is hurting my family" (p. 199), his present-tense answer spoke volumes about the ongoing risk and suffering of trying to get justice in a setting where social, political, and legal leaders were still at war against Black citizens. Debilitating injuries preventing employment; theft or destruction of property and businesses; and forced abandonment of homes, businesses, farms, and extended family support systems destroyed Black economic, social, political, and religious progress since emancipation. And Williams, and Kendi in Stamped, will remind us again, none of this was accidental, coincidental, or incidental. it was a planned and systemic "war against Reconstruction", to use the words from William's subtitle, fought and won by white citizens.
To deny the existence of systemic racism in the face of this evidence is to deny the facts of history recorded in the testimony of the victims to the unrepentant deeds of the victors. It was "the organized abandonment of the victims of white terror, and [their] historical erasure. . . . All of this made--and makes--unearthing atrocity's truths and preventing more violence even harder." (p. 213). Americans must face the facts of their history and how it shapes the country we live in today for good or ill. Denying or preventing the teaching of historical facts such as is being attempted in Florida is one of the greatest dangers to our ongoing democracy and must be resisted by Americans who are willing to take the hard facts and turn them into new ways forward.
The retrenchment of Black citizens' rights after 1876 has been accepted as the "failure" of Reconstruction. Williams uses first-hand testimony and census records to argue forcefully that this result was not a failure but a deliberate and planned result of a violent undeclared war against Black citizens that was perpetrated by unrepentant ex-Confederates, accepted by white citizens, and encoded into Jim Crow laws, regulations, and institutions that systemically blocked Black citizens from equal participation in American life:
In recent years, other historians have unintentionally amplified the “Lost Cause” narrative by using the language of “failure” as a shorthand for what the historical records reveal: federal officials “failed” to aid freed people's hunger for self-sufficiency and self-determination, “failed” to redistribute land, “failed” to enforce Black people's civil and political rights, “failed” to punish whites who attacked and killed Black people. Government entities bear some responsibility for Reconstruction not living up to its promises, certainly. But this “failure” narrative erases the story Black Americans . . . told about Reconstruction: it did not simply fail, white conservatives overthrew it. (p. xx-xxi)
Williams builds her history based on historical sources (the 1871 Congressional inquiry "into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States", p. xviii, and the Works Progress Administration interviews with the last living freed people in the 1930s, p. xxii) to show how ex-Confederates used violence to maintain control of institutions and elections "despite not constituting the majority of the population" (p. 50) in many districts. Direct physical violence and death in 1867-1868 were necessary because "once these [newly-enfranchised Black] men began voting, they did not stop of their own volition." (p. 52). As Ibram X. Kendi documents in Stamped From the Beginning, his powerful examination of racist ideas in America, the direct action was based on older racist ideas then codified in laws that for the next 100 years legally negated the volition of free voters. Violent terrorism worked because "federal lawmakers enacted policies without acknowledging southern white men's ability to maintain legal authority over Black people through their domination of local legal systems." (p. 54)
Attacks on Black people in their homes magnified the terror as it destroyed literally or emotionally the home as a place of safety. Surprise attacks on Black people magnified the terror as it destroyed literally or emotionally the community as a place of safety. According to one victim of a night-riders attack: "We did not know we had an enemy in the world. We had very nice neighbors there.". Her adult son was shot and killed and other members of her family wounded (p. 79-80).
In the aftermath of an attack, there was still no peace. "Survivors priorities--escaping, avoiding more violence, identifying secure spaces--often vied with one another." (p. 131). And they could expect little or no support from the law, medicine, police, or religion because many times their attackers came from these potential sources of support and tacitly if not openly supported and commuted the attacks. Doctors might refuse treatment if the survivor couldn't pay cash (p. 135), and one found the doctor he resorted to absent because the doctor had been on the attack that wounded him (p. 138). Many fled to save their lives or escape the mental anguish of flashbacks triggered by sights and sounds that reminded them of the past and raised fear of a repeat.
Testifying in criminal cases about the attacks or in the 1871 Congressional inquiry risked reprisals, facing "perpetrators on the jury" (p. 200), or questions that tried to minimize the harm or shift blame from the attackers to the victims. When one Black attack survivor testified "What they did is hurting my family" (p. 199), his present-tense answer spoke volumes about the ongoing risk and suffering of trying to get justice in a setting where social, political, and legal leaders were still at war against Black citizens. Debilitating injuries preventing employment; theft or destruction of property and businesses; and forced abandonment of homes, businesses, farms, and extended family support systems destroyed Black economic, social, political, and religious progress since emancipation. And Williams, and Kendi in Stamped, will remind us again, none of this was accidental, coincidental, or incidental. it was a planned and systemic "war against Reconstruction", to use the words from William's subtitle, fought and won by white citizens.
To deny the existence of systemic racism in the face of this evidence is to deny the facts of history recorded in the testimony of the victims to the unrepentant deeds of the victors. It was "the organized abandonment of the victims of white terror, and [their] historical erasure. . . . All of this made--and makes--unearthing atrocity's truths and preventing more violence even harder." (p. 213). Americans must face the facts of their history and how it shapes the country we live in today for good or ill. Denying or preventing the teaching of historical facts such as is being attempted in Florida is one of the greatest dangers to our ongoing democracy and must be resisted by Americans who are willing to take the hard facts and turn them into new ways forward.
June 14, 2023
Notes: I loved this book when it was focused on telling the stories of freed folk in the Reconstruction period. The stories were heart-rending, and well-framed in their historical context. Too often, though, this book turned into a more general (and frequently scattershot) review of the basic events of the period. It remains a valuable book for the excellent surfacing and contextualizing of these important primary sources, but I would've preferred a slimmer, more focused text!
February 13, 2023
A bit dry in spots, but overall, an interesting look at a period where little has been written and from the points of view of the people who lived through the terror that occurred during this era.
I do wish that author, Williams, had included a list of people or families whose rich stories, many of them passed down through families, made this book what it was. According to the author, herself, “these families were among the more than four million African Americans who had sprinted off the blocks and into freedom with great expectations. Many of them achieved their dreams or were well on their way to doing so when death tried to come for them in the form of white men waging war on freedom.” {Sidebar} It should be noted that Williams did share her “Search for Survivors” in an appendix, but I was looking more for a list of names, where they were from, etc. that would give me someplace to flip back and forth to remind me of who was who. With so many people included in this Collective History, it was often hard to remember who was who.
Black historians also did their part to keep the truth about Reconstruction and what happened through their writings and art. Unfortunately, this history faded from national memory, and even certain segments of Black memory. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the violence over the ongoing war against black freedom eventually shifted to more racial violence and killings to maintain compliance with Jim Crow.
The author’s goal was to “immerse readers in the immediacy of Black people’s collective experience of living through the war after the Civil War.” While I learned a lot about this time and what this group of citizens [although during this time, this group of people often were not considered citizens] experienced, I never felt like I was living the violence with them. I still felt like I was observing from a place just beyond the scene.
One thing that I did find most intriguing is that the author kept blaming white conservatives for the crimes committed against Black people during this period. Occasionally, she wrote that parties from both sides of the aisle did not do anything to help, but for the most part, she wrote of the former. Of interest is that one way that Black people were able to free themselves from the bondage of slavery was by taking advantage of “U.S. General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Special Field Order #15. The order, issued in January 1865, set aside for the exclusive settlement of Black families some 400,000 acres the U.S. Army had confiscated from the Confederates, along the Eastern seaboard from Charleston to St. Augustine, FL. U.S. officials were to distribute the land to Black families in 40-acre parcels …”
In March 1865, just before Lincoln was assassinated, Congress authorized the establishment of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, which provided some aid to newly freed people and impoverished white southerners displaced by the war. Williams does not mention that Lincoln was assassinated between the time that this bureau was established to the time that it started and continued to operate. As with most anything, you had good agents and bad agents, but what made the Freedman’s Bureau different was that there were not any “freed men” serving as agents. All of the men were white and depending on their politics – progressives distributed resources generously, while conservatives, as would be expected, were withholding. Even more interesting, Andrew Johnson, who Williams said was a political and social conservative, but in reality, was a SOUTHERN Democrat - his loyalty was to the South. He opposed any assistance to the freed people and ordered that all confiscated land (including that of Sherman’s Field Order) be returned to Confederates who swore loyalty to the United States and promised to respect the constitution (probably while their fingers were crossed behind their backs).
I have often asked myself what would have happened if Lincoln was not assassinated? Would things have been different if he had remained as President? Unfortunately, we’ll never know what might have been.
I do wish that author, Williams, had included a list of people or families whose rich stories, many of them passed down through families, made this book what it was. According to the author, herself, “these families were among the more than four million African Americans who had sprinted off the blocks and into freedom with great expectations. Many of them achieved their dreams or were well on their way to doing so when death tried to come for them in the form of white men waging war on freedom.” {Sidebar} It should be noted that Williams did share her “Search for Survivors” in an appendix, but I was looking more for a list of names, where they were from, etc. that would give me someplace to flip back and forth to remind me of who was who. With so many people included in this Collective History, it was often hard to remember who was who.
Black historians also did their part to keep the truth about Reconstruction and what happened through their writings and art. Unfortunately, this history faded from national memory, and even certain segments of Black memory. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the violence over the ongoing war against black freedom eventually shifted to more racial violence and killings to maintain compliance with Jim Crow.
The author’s goal was to “immerse readers in the immediacy of Black people’s collective experience of living through the war after the Civil War.” While I learned a lot about this time and what this group of citizens [although during this time, this group of people often were not considered citizens] experienced, I never felt like I was living the violence with them. I still felt like I was observing from a place just beyond the scene.
One thing that I did find most intriguing is that the author kept blaming white conservatives for the crimes committed against Black people during this period. Occasionally, she wrote that parties from both sides of the aisle did not do anything to help, but for the most part, she wrote of the former. Of interest is that one way that Black people were able to free themselves from the bondage of slavery was by taking advantage of “U.S. General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Special Field Order #15. The order, issued in January 1865, set aside for the exclusive settlement of Black families some 400,000 acres the U.S. Army had confiscated from the Confederates, along the Eastern seaboard from Charleston to St. Augustine, FL. U.S. officials were to distribute the land to Black families in 40-acre parcels …”
In March 1865, just before Lincoln was assassinated, Congress authorized the establishment of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, which provided some aid to newly freed people and impoverished white southerners displaced by the war. Williams does not mention that Lincoln was assassinated between the time that this bureau was established to the time that it started and continued to operate. As with most anything, you had good agents and bad agents, but what made the Freedman’s Bureau different was that there were not any “freed men” serving as agents. All of the men were white and depending on their politics – progressives distributed resources generously, while conservatives, as would be expected, were withholding. Even more interesting, Andrew Johnson, who Williams said was a political and social conservative, but in reality, was a SOUTHERN Democrat - his loyalty was to the South. He opposed any assistance to the freed people and ordered that all confiscated land (including that of Sherman’s Field Order) be returned to Confederates who swore loyalty to the United States and promised to respect the constitution (probably while their fingers were crossed behind their backs).
I have often asked myself what would have happened if Lincoln was not assassinated? Would things have been different if he had remained as President? Unfortunately, we’ll never know what might have been.
December 31, 2022
(Received advance copy for review consideration from netgalley)
Starting things off, the reader gets a chilling introduction to the Klan who goes after a Black man, Edward Crosby. Even though they don't find his hiding place, the incident frightened him and his family because Edward knew this was not an isolated incident, and that the Klan would return. Formed in Tennessee in 1866 and mostly comprised of ex-Confederate white soldiers, the 'social clubs' that wore masks and costumes got their name from the Greek work kyklos (circle) for the Ku Klux part. They roamed, armed with weapons, through communities, "in the middle of the night conducting paramilitary strikes on Black and white southerners."
White landowners in the area were not happy about the Black majority where Edward and others lived, and in the antebellum period, used extreme levels of violence to control them as enslavers. The author then discusses other harmful systems such as sharecropping and tenant farming. Edward and other Black community members in Montro County tried to vote for progressive candidates in 187, but faced "menacing opposition" from whites who insisted that the Black community member had to vote for white conservative candidates through coercion and intimidation.
Emancipation was more than freedom, the right to vote, or legal equality, but also about family and community. When Edward asked for the Republican ballot, he was refused, and so were the dozens of other Black men who came to the polling place. In frustration and fear, Edward planned to relocate. Many others who received such "visits" from the Klan ended up with far more brutalized and violent fates.
As the author states in her introduction, "I Saw Death Coming" seeks to 'immerse readers in the immediacy of Black people's collective experience of living through the war _after_ the Civil War."
Far from being simply a testament and witness to the violence and atrocities committed against Black communities in the aftermath of the Civil War, "I Saw Death Coming" provides more context and nuance to build an overall picture of social conditions and life. It also deals with diseases, pregnancies, physical health, and other unique challenges of the era.
The book also discusses the response of lawmakers to these crimes and human rights violations, as well as other legal enforcement agencies, and as the reader may expect, the systemic biases and racism that proliferated at those times continue, albeit in a more veiled, insidious way where in the past it was more likely to have been outright.
"I Saw Death Coming" is an essential volume for anyone seeking to understand more about the Reconstruction Era and the disproportionate violence suffered by African Americans as well as questions of how to leave home to avoid such dangers, mixed with social and communal ties of families as well as their abilities to receive support. The diminishment of what survivors went through, or in many cases outright dismissal of their experiences, is something that still reverberates and continues to today, which is horrendous.
Starting things off, the reader gets a chilling introduction to the Klan who goes after a Black man, Edward Crosby. Even though they don't find his hiding place, the incident frightened him and his family because Edward knew this was not an isolated incident, and that the Klan would return. Formed in Tennessee in 1866 and mostly comprised of ex-Confederate white soldiers, the 'social clubs' that wore masks and costumes got their name from the Greek work kyklos (circle) for the Ku Klux part. They roamed, armed with weapons, through communities, "in the middle of the night conducting paramilitary strikes on Black and white southerners."
White landowners in the area were not happy about the Black majority where Edward and others lived, and in the antebellum period, used extreme levels of violence to control them as enslavers. The author then discusses other harmful systems such as sharecropping and tenant farming. Edward and other Black community members in Montro County tried to vote for progressive candidates in 187, but faced "menacing opposition" from whites who insisted that the Black community member had to vote for white conservative candidates through coercion and intimidation.
Emancipation was more than freedom, the right to vote, or legal equality, but also about family and community. When Edward asked for the Republican ballot, he was refused, and so were the dozens of other Black men who came to the polling place. In frustration and fear, Edward planned to relocate. Many others who received such "visits" from the Klan ended up with far more brutalized and violent fates.
As the author states in her introduction, "I Saw Death Coming" seeks to 'immerse readers in the immediacy of Black people's collective experience of living through the war _after_ the Civil War."
Far from being simply a testament and witness to the violence and atrocities committed against Black communities in the aftermath of the Civil War, "I Saw Death Coming" provides more context and nuance to build an overall picture of social conditions and life. It also deals with diseases, pregnancies, physical health, and other unique challenges of the era.
The book also discusses the response of lawmakers to these crimes and human rights violations, as well as other legal enforcement agencies, and as the reader may expect, the systemic biases and racism that proliferated at those times continue, albeit in a more veiled, insidious way where in the past it was more likely to have been outright.
"I Saw Death Coming" is an essential volume for anyone seeking to understand more about the Reconstruction Era and the disproportionate violence suffered by African Americans as well as questions of how to leave home to avoid such dangers, mixed with social and communal ties of families as well as their abilities to receive support. The diminishment of what survivors went through, or in many cases outright dismissal of their experiences, is something that still reverberates and continues to today, which is horrendous.
December 15, 2023
As a 46-year-old man, I remember taking Georgia Studies in middle school. Of course, the Civil War was a major part of the class and I remember learning about all the war battles. But as is often the case, the Reconstruction period was glossed over. My only recollections from the class on that part of history were that there were “carpetbaggers” and “ scalawags” and that both were bad for the South. It would not be until my college years that I would learn just how distorted this story was and how it was part of another project of promoting the “Lost Cause” narrative and covering up the true story of the reversal of gains made by the African Americans in the aftermath of the war and the retrenchment of white supremacist rule in the South for the next century.
The period immediately after the war was a time of unheard possibilities for recently freed African Americans having achieved something they could only dream about, many freedmen set out to achieve their parts of the American Dream. They did this by buying their own land and equipment and starting their own farms and businesses. However, the recently overthrown white power structure vehemently opposed the African Americans exercising Reactionary whites used terroristic violence through beatings, arson, assassination, and sexual assault to achieve their ends. As the federal government pulled troops out of the south the violence only intensified. This period of violence has been covered up by a concerted effort to redeem the South and establish the Lost Cause which presents the violent perpetrators as brave defenders rather than violent terrorists.
I Saw Death Coming is part of a growing school of historical research that challenges the Lost Cause narrative. What makes this book stand out from other books in this genre is that rather than focusing on the political history of this period, this book focuses on the personal individual accounts of night-riding violence. The accounts focus on South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida and use the first-person accounts of victims collected by the federal government. Williams focuses on the personal nature of the terroristic attacks and how they disrupted the lives of the victims. Using extensive quotes from these firsthand accounts, the author puts them in their appropriate context and reveals a side to reconstruction that proves how misleading the traditional way of teaching this period has been. I also enjoyed how the author reframes the story of reconstruction by using language that is more reflective of what was going on for example she replaces the use of plantation with slave labor camp and refers to the attackers as conservatives which in the original sense of the work reflects people who were trying to preserve the old slave order and white supremacy. Overall I thought this was an informative book and while many of the accounts are hard to read due to the brutality that they describe, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the reconstruction period in particular or American History in General.
The period immediately after the war was a time of unheard possibilities for recently freed African Americans having achieved something they could only dream about, many freedmen set out to achieve their parts of the American Dream. They did this by buying their own land and equipment and starting their own farms and businesses. However, the recently overthrown white power structure vehemently opposed the African Americans exercising Reactionary whites used terroristic violence through beatings, arson, assassination, and sexual assault to achieve their ends. As the federal government pulled troops out of the south the violence only intensified. This period of violence has been covered up by a concerted effort to redeem the South and establish the Lost Cause which presents the violent perpetrators as brave defenders rather than violent terrorists.
I Saw Death Coming is part of a growing school of historical research that challenges the Lost Cause narrative. What makes this book stand out from other books in this genre is that rather than focusing on the political history of this period, this book focuses on the personal individual accounts of night-riding violence. The accounts focus on South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida and use the first-person accounts of victims collected by the federal government. Williams focuses on the personal nature of the terroristic attacks and how they disrupted the lives of the victims. Using extensive quotes from these firsthand accounts, the author puts them in their appropriate context and reveals a side to reconstruction that proves how misleading the traditional way of teaching this period has been. I also enjoyed how the author reframes the story of reconstruction by using language that is more reflective of what was going on for example she replaces the use of plantation with slave labor camp and refers to the attackers as conservatives which in the original sense of the work reflects people who were trying to preserve the old slave order and white supremacy. Overall I thought this was an informative book and while many of the accounts are hard to read due to the brutality that they describe, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the reconstruction period in particular or American History in General.
August 11, 2023
I can’t remember who tweeted it but someone once wrote a hypothesis that anti-Semitism is on the rise again because so many Holocaust survivors are dying. Reading that hit me like a thunderbolt because it made so much sense. Anti-Semitism is an ancient prejudice and it’s certainly not new to the last ten years but I have no doubt that the loss of living witnesses is a part of it.
Mass media wasn’t as widely available during Reconstruction as it is today but it may have changed some more stubborn northern hearts to hear the stories of freed slaves and their families trying to survive terrorism in southern states. The effort to enfranchise Black persons who had just been emancipated was a weak one, an incomplete one, rife with inconsistencies and poor planning. The result was a decline of the quality of life for Black persons that led to Jim Crow and would persist for a hundred years (and still persists today to a different degree).
This is not a narrative history of Reconstruction. Rather, it’s a reading of Reconstruction as told through the testimonies of several emancipated persons who testified against the Klan violence they had experienced for a variety of reasons, all of them traced back to racism. There’s proof that Congress, the Presidents of Reconstruction, and some northerners with literacy and newspaper access knew this…and yet the appetite for corralling southerners post-war was not there. So it left Black persons vulnerable all across the former Confederate states.
And it’s important to continue to read these testimonies. Because the terror of that age paved the road for the racist attitudes and policies of today. People had to consistently fight for their humanity and it was often a losing battle. Those that survived and felt compelled to tell their testimonies* tell us what was happening. The white governance of the States did not listen. And in this age, far removed from that one yet with many of the same bigotries existing, we are regressing and will continue to do so without major reform. We can start by listening to the stories of those who have experienced it.
*This is where I part ways with people in this and other contexts who would talk about how these survivors are “brave.” Every survivor is brave by necessity, whether or not they share their story in a public manner.
Mass media wasn’t as widely available during Reconstruction as it is today but it may have changed some more stubborn northern hearts to hear the stories of freed slaves and their families trying to survive terrorism in southern states. The effort to enfranchise Black persons who had just been emancipated was a weak one, an incomplete one, rife with inconsistencies and poor planning. The result was a decline of the quality of life for Black persons that led to Jim Crow and would persist for a hundred years (and still persists today to a different degree).
This is not a narrative history of Reconstruction. Rather, it’s a reading of Reconstruction as told through the testimonies of several emancipated persons who testified against the Klan violence they had experienced for a variety of reasons, all of them traced back to racism. There’s proof that Congress, the Presidents of Reconstruction, and some northerners with literacy and newspaper access knew this…and yet the appetite for corralling southerners post-war was not there. So it left Black persons vulnerable all across the former Confederate states.
And it’s important to continue to read these testimonies. Because the terror of that age paved the road for the racist attitudes and policies of today. People had to consistently fight for their humanity and it was often a losing battle. Those that survived and felt compelled to tell their testimonies* tell us what was happening. The white governance of the States did not listen. And in this age, far removed from that one yet with many of the same bigotries existing, we are regressing and will continue to do so without major reform. We can start by listening to the stories of those who have experienced it.
*This is where I part ways with people in this and other contexts who would talk about how these survivors are “brave.” Every survivor is brave by necessity, whether or not they share their story in a public manner.
January 25, 2024
Professor Wiliams' centering the voices and experiences of the freed people who survived racist terrorist attacks shifts the narrative from power to people. Framing these night rider attacks as a continuance of the Civil War by locating in the families, homes, and farms of Freed People the very foundation of freedom, Constitutional rights, and the American promise of equality. Just as Freed People began to acquire property and some success, ex-Confederates and ex-enslavers recruited other whites to rain down terror and violence upon the Freed People.
In previous historical narratives this violence was seen as a means to thwart Northern influence, push back against Federalism in the form of the Freeman's Bureaus, and reinstall a racist social order that came as close to slavery as possible. Professor Williams shows that these vigilante attacks were more calculated and purposeful in attempting to overthrow democarcy by annihilating the black family. Denying Freed People any sense of civic security through the constant deployment of paramilitary assualts, planted seeds of trauma that resonate today.
Through home invasion, sexual assualt, beatings, maimings, and killings terror was brought through the doors of black homes. But it was not just physical violence, it was demoralizing total control of neighbors and ordinary whites, that stole not only family possessions but the sense of community or belonging. Just as Freed People started on the first wrung of family autonomy, white society tried to break the ladder.
The stories included were mined from Congressional Investigations and Hearings' testimony from night rider survivors. Their frank and explict narratives preserved the human suffering that white supremacy creates. Testifying at greater personal risk than most, fearlessly naming their attackers, and pleading for Federal enforcement of the hard fought civil rights, these survivors related their experiences with a brutal clarity and fearsome bravery.
Professor Williams restores to our history, their history. A story that if heeded could have set right the sinking ship of Reconstruciton and defeated the Confederacy once and for all.
In previous historical narratives this violence was seen as a means to thwart Northern influence, push back against Federalism in the form of the Freeman's Bureaus, and reinstall a racist social order that came as close to slavery as possible. Professor Williams shows that these vigilante attacks were more calculated and purposeful in attempting to overthrow democarcy by annihilating the black family. Denying Freed People any sense of civic security through the constant deployment of paramilitary assualts, planted seeds of trauma that resonate today.
Through home invasion, sexual assualt, beatings, maimings, and killings terror was brought through the doors of black homes. But it was not just physical violence, it was demoralizing total control of neighbors and ordinary whites, that stole not only family possessions but the sense of community or belonging. Just as Freed People started on the first wrung of family autonomy, white society tried to break the ladder.
The stories included were mined from Congressional Investigations and Hearings' testimony from night rider survivors. Their frank and explict narratives preserved the human suffering that white supremacy creates. Testifying at greater personal risk than most, fearlessly naming their attackers, and pleading for Federal enforcement of the hard fought civil rights, these survivors related their experiences with a brutal clarity and fearsome bravery.
Professor Williams restores to our history, their history. A story that if heeded could have set right the sinking ship of Reconstruciton and defeated the Confederacy once and for all.
September 28, 2025
It's going to take me a while to recover from this book. I read it SLOWLY because after each chapter, I needed multiple days to process what I'd read and feel ready to move on. I knew a decent amount about reconstruction before reading this, but I didn't understand the scope of the violence against black families and how that violence affected so many other parts of life. People could never feel safe, even in their own homes. They felt like any gains they made could be taken away. After an attack, people had to deal with the mental anguish of what had happened and recover from their physical injuries (which often had lifelong impacts). People's sense of community was destroyed because neighbors were often afraid to help each other and risk being the next target. There was no one to go to for help or justice.
I felt such hopelessness as I tried to mentally put myself in the shoes of the people described in the book. How do you find the motivation to keep going when it feels like there's no possibility of building something? When your success will make you even more of a target? When there's nothing you can do to keep yourself and your family safe?
I also just kept thinking about how much different the country would be today if this whole era had played out differently. People coming out of enslavement had nothing and were given basically no help, and so many of them managed to build something despite starting out in such desperate circumstances. If they were even just left alone, rather than actively attacked, things would be incredibly different for so many families today. The data the financial impact to families of these attacks really made it clear how all of their descendants were put at a disadvantage from that loss of generational wealth. And if black people hadn't been forced out of rural areas and into cities, maybe more of the country would be exposed to people who aren't the same as them. We would all be better off.
I felt such hopelessness as I tried to mentally put myself in the shoes of the people described in the book. How do you find the motivation to keep going when it feels like there's no possibility of building something? When your success will make you even more of a target? When there's nothing you can do to keep yourself and your family safe?
I also just kept thinking about how much different the country would be today if this whole era had played out differently. People coming out of enslavement had nothing and were given basically no help, and so many of them managed to build something despite starting out in such desperate circumstances. If they were even just left alone, rather than actively attacked, things would be incredibly different for so many families today. The data the financial impact to families of these attacks really made it clear how all of their descendants were put at a disadvantage from that loss of generational wealth. And if black people hadn't been forced out of rural areas and into cities, maybe more of the country would be exposed to people who aren't the same as them. We would all be better off.
February 18, 2024
This book is based on testimony from the 1871 US Congressional hearings on Klan attacks and on testimony from survivors of the Reconstruction era gathered by WPA employees in the 1930s. That source material is incredibly rich and important, and this book performs a valuable service just by making it more accessible. I found a lot of the choices on how to present it perplexing. In particular, the author very rarely quotes the testimony at length, but offers it chopped up into phrases or single sentences, then intervenes to explain and restate. Often the explanations are redundant and sometimes they slip into strange modes--pop-science exegesis of the stress and trauma that these testifiers suffered, or novelistic descriptions of their emotions. For example: “Human bodies and minds are wired to sustain themselves, and when under attack focus solely on survival and avoiding injury. When the mind detects threats to life, like Abe experienced, it triggers preprogrammed escape plans by secreting stress chemicals to propel the body into action, specifically to survive by running, hiding, or fighting. But as Abe considered a possible exit strategy and the implications for Eliza and their three children, he might have felt heavy, as though he were in a nightmare from which he would soon awaken. However this wasn’t a dream, and that horrified him. Eliza, who remained calm, said Abe ‘looked like he was in a perfect scare,’ suggesting his body’s defense circuitry had shut down and that he was paralyzed by fear.” The quote from the survivor--“he looked like he was in a perfect scare”--seems to me to already contain all of that explanation. I think the author is trying to force the reader to empathize deeply with the survivor, but I wonder why she felt that the survivor’s words on their own weren’t enough to spark that empathy.
February 5, 2024
Former slaves benefited from the 1866 Civil Rights Act, the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments, and programs passed for Reconstruction. Embracing their new found freedom; they voted, ran for office, built schools and churches, and sought a better life for their families. These new found freedoms for Black citizens were an anathema to the post-Civil War South, so they formed groups called Night Riders that conducted campaigns of intimidation and torture against Black landowners.
Williams, a historian at Wayne State University, centers the story on first-person accounts: testimonies offered in an investigation of the Ku Klux Klan by Congress in 1871, and narratives of formerly enslaved people gathered by the Works Project Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. Their accounts include tales of harrowing violence visited upon their homes and families. Many victims chose to abandon their homes and travel to safer regions in the country. There was a “hurried, mass movement of significant numbers in months” in 1879 on the part of people called Exodusters—it is estimated that 30,000 moved to Kansas almost overnight.
The Federal government did little to protect Black Citizens, leaving enforcement to the states. Indeed, White Southerners incredibly blamed the violence on their Black neighbors—the myth of the Lost Cause. Williams’ excellent book recounts how White southerners overthrew Black Reconstruction, and the rest of the nation let them.
Williams, a historian at Wayne State University, centers the story on first-person accounts: testimonies offered in an investigation of the Ku Klux Klan by Congress in 1871, and narratives of formerly enslaved people gathered by the Works Project Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. Their accounts include tales of harrowing violence visited upon their homes and families. Many victims chose to abandon their homes and travel to safer regions in the country. There was a “hurried, mass movement of significant numbers in months” in 1879 on the part of people called Exodusters—it is estimated that 30,000 moved to Kansas almost overnight.
The Federal government did little to protect Black Citizens, leaving enforcement to the states. Indeed, White Southerners incredibly blamed the violence on their Black neighbors—the myth of the Lost Cause. Williams’ excellent book recounts how White southerners overthrew Black Reconstruction, and the rest of the nation let them.
May 18, 2023
This book made me so angry. You see, Reconstruction was the era that truly defined what America was and what it will be. Not the American revolution, not the Civil War. This period begged the question: How are we going to treat all the citizens that live in our land, within our boundaries, now that they are all free? States in the South decided that if they could not enslave African Americans, they would destroy them. They will stunt any social or political progress. If African Americans moved away and started their own communities, they would seek out those communities out and destroy them. They would terrorize. They would kill. And the North stood idly by, complicit. Both contributed to this new normal, this new state of living. Up into the lynchings and deep segregation of the early 20th century, to the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-century to the current rewriting and revising history to deny all that is in this book even happened. I was angry because what was written is just the tip of the iceberg, there is so, so much more. And yet there exists a connective thread to what happened then to what happens now. A required text for gaslighters and for those who say "slavery was so long ago." When you see how far reaching the effects and trauma of slavery are- no, no it wasn't. We are currently in the shade of the trees planted then.
April 5, 2023
Why CRT remains vital to understanding America today
This book is essentially an eyewitness account of the atrocities that whites committed against black people in the aftermath of the Civil War, the period known as Reconstruction. Based on the archival first-hand testimonies from Congressional investigations during and just after Reconstruction's end, and a WPA living history project in the1930s, we have a truer picture of continued violence against intact black families perpetrated by white supremacists, in spite of the supposed protections of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. The accounts of Ku Klux "visitations" that destroyed black families' property, livelihoods as well as their very lives makes this book a profound testament that, in the guise of modern voter supression primarily, nothing much has changed in terms of white repression and suppression of black social, economic and political progress. Ms. Williams is to be applauded for bringing these voices back to life in a gripping and vital narrative. Black lives do indeed matter, and these voices remain living proof of whites' continued determination to silence them, by any and all means.
This book is essentially an eyewitness account of the atrocities that whites committed against black people in the aftermath of the Civil War, the period known as Reconstruction. Based on the archival first-hand testimonies from Congressional investigations during and just after Reconstruction's end, and a WPA living history project in the1930s, we have a truer picture of continued violence against intact black families perpetrated by white supremacists, in spite of the supposed protections of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. The accounts of Ku Klux "visitations" that destroyed black families' property, livelihoods as well as their very lives makes this book a profound testament that, in the guise of modern voter supression primarily, nothing much has changed in terms of white repression and suppression of black social, economic and political progress. Ms. Williams is to be applauded for bringing these voices back to life in a gripping and vital narrative. Black lives do indeed matter, and these voices remain living proof of whites' continued determination to silence them, by any and all means.
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