ABSTRACT
Today, as a result of the hard work of revisionists, outdated views of the supposed benefits of slavery and the myth that black people have been passive throughout American history have been put to rest, and the full horrors of slavery and institutional racism are universally recognized. Scholars like the African American studies professor Thavolia Glymph have shifted the focus away from men as the only major historical players, and have concentrated on the intersections between gender, race, labor, and politics. Another important area of recent research involves drawing meaningful comparisons between the end of slavery and Reconstruction in the United States, with abolition and its aftermath in former British and French colonies. The federal government used a combination of laws, intelligence, and troops to combat these groups, before eventually pulling its troops out of the South in 1877, and to a certain extent turning a blind eye to their violence.
