{"id":219676,"date":"2024-10-04T13:28:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T17:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=219676"},"modified":"2024-10-04T16:28:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T20:28:16","slug":"historian-manisha-sinha-discusses-book-in-congressional-dialogue-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/10\/historian-manisha-sinha-discusses-book-in-congressional-dialogue-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Historian Manisha Sinha Discusses Book in Congressional Dialogue Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manisha Sinha rarely has opportunities to talk directly to those shaping modern history, but on Sept. 25, she spoke to about 225 U.S. members of Congress about her latest book.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t get a chance very often to speak to people in positions of power, so I really used my time,\u201d the\u00a0James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Library of Congress selected Sinha\u2019s book, \u201cThe Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920″ as part of its Congressional Dialogue series, which invites all members of Congress to a dinner, reception, and discussion with the author at the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of the series is to foster constructive dialogue about contemporary modern issues and important moments in American history among Congress members.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden opened the evening with welcoming remarks, and businessman and author <\/span>David Rubenstein<\/span><\/a> then led a discussion with Sinha a<\/span>nd a Q&A session with Congress members, and attendees received signed copies of Sinha\u2019s book.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Manisha
Manisha Sinha poses for a photo with Reps. Hillary Scholten of Michigan and James Clyburn of South Carolina. (Contributed by Manisha Sinha).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The book re-examines the era following the Civil War and includes the long unwinding of Reconstruction after 1877, when most historians say the period ended. It evaluates how American democracy was reshaped between 1860, when President Abraham Lincoln was elected, and 1920, when women earned the right to vote.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sinha says the book parallels current controversies surrounding race, immigration, and voting rights. For instance, Sinha drew on her research of the 14<\/span>th<\/span> Amendment to join an amicus brief on a Colorado Supreme Court case that ultimately rejected former President Donald Trump\u2019s disqualificat<\/span>ion from the 2024 presidential ballot <\/span>because of his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Her then-forthcoming book was also cited in another amicus brief for that case by a group of Yale and Harvard historians.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that’s what brought my book to their attention. There are a lot of connections between Reconstruction to the present day,\u201d Sinha says.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Divisive rhetoric that calls people \u201ccriminals and rapists” can \u201cincite racist division and even encourage horrific violence against them,\u201d she says, and is like what happened to Black people\u00a0after the fall of Reconstruction, during the Jim Crow era.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Manisha
Manisha Sinha with Rep. Peter Aguilar of California at the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress on Sept. 25. (Contributed by Manisha Sinha)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sinha initially wondered whether hostile\u00a0responses\u00a0would surface among some members, but says she was delighted to see lawmakers asking thoughtful questions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t get any kind of pushback, heckling, or hostility,\u201d Sinha says. \u201cI anticipated that, especially when I was talking about the overthrow of Reconstruction and the use of racist demagoguery to rile up racial divisions.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI could just say what happened then, in terms of what racist southern demagogues were doing at the turn of the century, and I would leave it [at that],\u201d she says. \u201cThis is [also] how I teach my students, who have differing political opinions.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The event followed the last congressional session where the House and Senate voted to pass a stopgap bill to fund the federal government until Dec. 20, which ultimately avoided a government shutdown. Still, Sinha says there was still a large turnout of both Republican and Democrat lawmakers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Manisha
Manisha Sinha poses for a photo with Rep. Deborah Ross of North Carolina. (Contributed by Manisha Sinha)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMany of them were rushing back to their districts because they’re up for re-election and they have a short time period since Congress adjourned,\u201d she says. \u201cI did get to meet some interesting Congressmen and women. There were so many of them that it was difficult to meet everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sinha felt honored to share her research with the nation\u2019s leaders and was impressed by the level of detail put into the event, including the historically inspired tablecloths and the display of original material that she had used in her book.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of Congress were always connecting [their questions] directly to present day issues,\u201d she says. \u201cThey’re just so many connections [between my book and the current political landscape] that I\u2019m grateful for this moment. I was really thrilled to do it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sinha discussed her latest book with 225 members of Congress at an exclusive event at the Library of Congress. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":219695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2618],"class_list":["post-219676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 05:42:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219683,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219676\/revisions\/219683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/219695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219676"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=219676"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=219676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}