New Books Network Amanda Laury Kleintop, "Counting the Cost of Freedom: The Fight Over Compensated Emancipation After the Civil War" (UNC Press, 2025)
Oct 27, 2025
Amanda Laury Kleintop, an assistant professor of history at Elon University and author of "Counting the Cost of Freedom," delves into the contentious battle over compensated emancipation after the Civil War. She reveals how former Confederates demanded federal compensation for enslaved people, shaping policies that led to Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Kleintop also discusses the erasure of this history through Lost Cause narratives and its implications, highlighting the ongoing struggle for reparations today.
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Constitutional Ambiguity Shaped Compensation Debates
- Antebellum legal debates treated enslaved people ambiguously, leaving unresolved whether the Takings Clause required compensation.
- This constitutional ambiguity shaped wartime and Reconstruction contests over compensated emancipation.
Loyalty Became The Basis For Conditional Compensation
- Republicans instrumentalized loyalty to split enslavers into 'loyal' and 'disloyal' categories and offered conditional compensation.
- Lincoln and Congress used loyalty-based promises (e.g., D.C. Act, Enrollment Act) to advance emancipation without broad federal recompense.
Louisiana's Committee For Loyal Owners
- Louisiana's 1864 constitutional convention abolished slavery but created a committee to seek federal compensation for 'loyal' enslavers.
- Delegates reframed compensation as a reward for loyalty rather than a pure legal right.
