Thaddeus Stevens has been called "the greatest dictator Congress ever had," a man who in 1867 held more political power than any man in the nation, including the president. In his day Stevens grappled with many of the issues that confront us today: racial and economic equality, affirmative action, and equal access to education. The second volume of a two-volume edition covers Steven's later years during the tumultuous period from the end of the Civil War to his death in1868. It includes letters, speeches, and remarks Stevens delivered as he championed equal rights for the freedmen and steered key Reconstruction measures through Congress. This volume also contains letters from loyalists and ex-Confederates to Stevens reflecting their reactions to conditions in the South.

Hailed as "the most important congressman in the House of Representatives during the Civil War" and still honored in Pennsylvania as the father of its public school system, Thaddeus Stevens grappled in his day with many of the issues that confront us today: racial and economic equality, affirmative action, and equal access to education. Volume one of the projected two-volume edition of "The Papers of Thaddeus Stevens" covers Steven's political career from his Vermont youth to the end of the Civil War. It includes letters and speeches from his early days as a Gettysburg lawyer and as a representative in the Pennsylvania assembly through his antislavery efforts to the 1865 passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, freeing all slaves.

Thaddeus Stevens has been called "the greatest dictator Congress ever had," a man who in 1867 held more political power than any man in the nation, including the president. In his day Stevens grappled with many of the issues that confront us today: racial and economic equality, affirmative action, and equal access to education. The second volume of a two-volume edition covers Steven's later years during the tumultuous period from the end of the Civil War to his death in1868. It includes letters, speeches, and remarks Stevens delivered as he championed equal rights for the freedmen and steered key Reconstruction measures through Congress. This volume also contains letters from loyalists and ex-Confederates to Stevens reflecting their reactions to conditions in the South.

American lawyer and politician Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was an abolitionist who led the effort to impeach U.S. President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875). James K. Hogue wrote a book review of "The Selected Papers of Thaddeus Stevens" (ISBN:0-8229-3972-X) for the volume 86, number 4 issue of the "Journal of American History," a publication of the Organization of American Historians. The History Cooperative provides the review online.