Eric Anderson clarifies a confusing, uneven period of promise from the emancipation to the disfranchisement of black Americans. He examines regional and national history in his record of one of the most remarkable centers of black political influence in the late nineteenth century--North Carolina's second congressional district. From its creation in 1872 as a result of gerrymandering to its collapse in the extremism of 1900, the "black second" produced increasingly effective black leaders in public office, from postmasters to prosecuting attorneys and congressmen.