James Shepherd Pike facts for kids

James Shepherd Pike (born September 8, 1811 – died November 29, 1882) was an American journalist and a historian. He wrote about South Carolina during a time called the Reconstruction Era. This was the period after the American Civil War when the Southern states were rebuilt and brought back into the Union.

About James Shepherd Pike

Pike was born in Calais, Maine. He became a journalist in the United States in the mid-1800s. From 1850 to 1860, he worked for the New York Tribune newspaper. He was their main reporter in Washington D.C. and also an editor. The Tribune was a very important newspaper for many Republican newspapers across the country. They often reprinted Pike's reports before the American Civil War began.

Fighting for Change

In 1854, Pike strongly opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This law allowed people in new territories to decide if they wanted slavery. Pike called for a new political group to fight against it. He wrote that a "solid phalanx of aggression" was trying to spread slavery everywhere in the South. His reports were widely read and caused strong reactions. They made him famous as someone who was against slavery and later as a strong Republican.

A Diplomat for the Union

President Abraham Lincoln chose Pike to be a diplomat, or "minister," to the Netherlands. From 1861 to 1866, Pike worked there to stop the Confederate states from getting support from other countries. He also promoted the Union's goals during the war.

Return to Journalism and Politics

After returning to Washington in 1866, Pike continued writing for the New York Tribune. He also wrote for the New York Sun. He was a strong supporter of the Radical Republicans. These were politicians like Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner who wanted big changes in the South after the war. Pike disagreed with President Andrew Johnson.

Pike believed that formerly enslaved people should be allowed to vote. In 1866 and 1867, he strongly supported Black suffrage (the right to vote). He also thought that most former Confederates should not be allowed to hold public office.

Changing Views

Pike did not like Ulysses S. Grant as a politician. He slowly moved away from the Republican party. By 1872, Pike was unhappy with how Black suffrage was working and with the problems of Reconstruction. He felt there was too much corruption. He argued that the U.S. government should remove its soldiers from the Southern states.

Pike strongly supported the Liberal Republican movement in 1872. This group opposed President Ulysses Grant. They criticized his government for being corrupt. Pike's boss, Horace Greeley, who was the editor of the New York Tribune, became the Liberal Republican candidate for president in 1872. Greeley lost the election and then passed away. The new editor of the Tribune, Whitelaw Reid, sent Pike to South Carolina. He wanted Pike to report on what was happening in the South during Reconstruction.

Pike's Reports on South Carolina

In 1873, Pike traveled through South Carolina. He wrote a series of newspaper articles about his trip. These articles were printed in newspapers all over the country. In 1874, they were published as a book called The Prostrate State: South Carolina under Negro Government.

This book was widely read and very important. It was a firsthand account of the government in South Carolina during Reconstruction. Pike claimed the book showed corruption, bad management, bribery, and financial problems in the state government. However, critics said his book was unfair and hostile towards African Americans and Republicans who supported Grant.

The Prostrate State and Its Impact

The Prostrate State described a very negative picture of South Carolina. Historian Eric Foner said the book showed a state full of political corruption and wasteful spending. Pike claimed the state was controlled by "a mass of black barbarism." He believed the problems in the South came from "Negro government." He thought the solution was to give power back to leading white people.

Historian John Hope Franklin noted that Pike's book was seen as very important for many years. However, some historians, like Robert Franklin Durden, argued that Pike did not just report what he saw. Instead, he picked and chose events from his notes that supported his own ideas. Durden believed Pike wanted to blame the Grant administration and the freedmen (formerly enslaved people) for the failures of Reconstruction. Pike had a strong dislike for African Americans.

Durden explained that Pike's negative descriptions of African Americans in The Prostrate State came from his long-standing dislike of the Black race. Pike had been against slavery before the Civil War because he thought the western lands should be for white people. Durden suggested that Pike even considered the idea of the Southern states leaving the Union peacefully. This was partly because he thought it might get rid of a "mass of barbarism."

Historian Mark Summers said that Pike focused on sensational (exciting or shocking) details. However, he noted that Pike's reports were similar to those of other journalists like Charles Nordhoff and H. P. Redfield. James Freeman Clarke, a well-known abolitionist, visited South Carolina and confirmed that the facts Pike presented were true.

Durden (2000) also reported that Pike's book was a strong attack on Republican rule in South Carolina. It gained a lot of attention because people saw it as coming from an unbiased Republican from Maine. They thought Pike, an old opponent of slavery, had realized the "wicked corruption" of the "carpetbaggers" (Northerners who moved South after the war) and their "ignorant and barbaric" Black allies. Pike's book helped end Reconstruction. It was also used by historians for many years. However, Durden concluded that the book was not objective at all. It simply showed Pike's long-held racist views.