The Colonel's Dream
Author(s): Charles Waddell Chesnutt
Genre(s): Literary Fiction, Published 1900 Onward
Narrators: James K. White
Number of Chapters: 39
Length: 09 hours and 05 minutes
Language: English
In this novel, Chesnutt described the hopelessness of Reconstruction in a post-Civil War South that was bent on reestablishing the former status quo and rebuilding itself as a region of the United States where new forms of "slavery" would replace the old. This novel illustrated how race hatred and the impotence of a reluctant Federal Government trumped the rule of law, ultimately setting the stage for the rise of institutions such as Jim Crow, lynching, chain gangs and work farms--all established with the intent of disenfranchising African Americans. - Summary by James K. White