Little-Known, Post-Civil War Event Topic Of Hartford History Talk

Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

HARTFORD, CT – A little-known episode in American history, namely a failed attempt at interracial democracy in the post-Civil War South, is the topic of a unique program at the state's history museum this week.

Acclaimed historian Manisha Sinha will speak in person at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History about new research that prompted groundbreaking findings within her latest book, "The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic."

The event is on Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m., 1 Elizabeth St., Hartford. The public is invited to attend.

Her talk will focus on a little-known historical movement after the Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era, when the North attempted to create an interracial democracy in the South.

"But that effort failed—and that failure serves as a warning today about the violent backlash to the mere idea of black equality," wrote the museum in a release.

Sinha's new book offers an examination of reconstruction that "fundamentally alters our view of this formative era in American history."

Sinha is the James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the president-elect 2024 of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.

She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and taught at the University of Massachusetts for over 20 years, where she was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal; the highest honor bestowed upon faculty.

She is the author of The Counterrevolution of Slavery, which was named one of the 10 best books on slavery in Politico and featured in The New York Times 1619 Project.

Sinha is also a member of the board of trustees for the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History.

The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History (formerly Connecticut Historical Society) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1825, as the state’s premier historical society.

Tickets are available to purchase through the Connecticut Museum’s website, connecticutmuseum.org, and include the option to purchase the book in advance. Copies will also be available to purchase during the event, courtesy of River Bend Book Shop.