Gold and Freedom

Thoroughly researched, Gold and Freedom brings the perspective of a gifted French historian to a perennial topic in U.S. history. By reinterpreting Reconstruction through a sectional lens, Barreyre shifts our attention from party conflict to what he calls its 'spatial dynamics.' It may well be that an outsider is best positioned to appreciate the enormous significance of sectionalism in U.S. national politics. Barreyre proves here that he definitely 'gets it.'" —Richard R. John, Columbia University, author of Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications

"Nicolas Barreyre's Gold and Freedom is the first serious attempt to analyze congressional policy making during the era of Reconstruction to appear in forty to fifty years. It is a brilliant piece of work. None of the previous studies of economic policy making have tied those disputes so integrally to the evolution of federal Reconstruction policy as Barreyre does here. The book will make a splash with students of the Civil War/Reconstruction period as well as with specialists.” —Michael Holt, Williams Professor of American History Emeritus, University of Virginia

"What makes Barreyre’s contribution so original is that he reads the narrative of Reconstruction against the background of a growing body of literature on the geography of capital in the 19th-century United States. In other words, he considers the relationship between two areas of historical research – party politics and economic geography – that are often only considered separately.... Barreyre cleverly uses a growing and interesting area of historical research to richly contextualise and shed new light on the high politics of Reconstruction. Combining economic geography and political history in this way really can be more than the sum of its parts.” —author of Reviews in History

"Drawing on congressional debates and voting patterns, politicians' papers, and newspapers, the book will delight readers who revel in politics and political intrigue.... At a time when Progressives' stock is rising, and with studies of political economy resurgent among historians, this provocative book should find the welcome audience it richly deserves." —author of Journal of American History