This work investigates the systematic erosion of civil rights for African Americans during the period between the end of Reconstruction and the early twentieth century. Rayford W. Logan, a prominent historian and scholar of African American history, utilizes extensive primary source research, including contemporary newspapers, political records, and legislative documents, to construct his argument. He posits that the federal government, through a series of political compromises and judicial decisions, effectively abandoned the promises made to Black citizens following the Civil War. This abandonment facilitated the rise of Jim Crow laws and the institutionalization of white supremacy in the American South.

Historians frequently cite this text as a foundational study for understanding the institutional betrayal of Black Americans during the nadir of race relations. Scholars often note the rigorous use of primary sources, which provides a clear, albeit sobering, account of the political mechanisms that dismantled post-Civil War progress.