John Giggie's book After Redemption is about the religious life of African Americans from 1875 to 1915. This is the period after "Reconstruction" in the period known to white southerners as "Redemption". It was known as "Redemption" because Democratic Party control was re-established and this meant a reversal of the many gains and the establishment of the Jim Crow system, which denied civil and voting rights to African Americans. The setting for this book is where multiple rivers converge at the Mississippi and Arkansas border known as the Delta. Giggie uses an extensive amount of sources and research to develop five chapters for this book: the importance of the railroad and industrialization, fraternal secret societies, emerging market for religious items, the culture that resulted from the market and the counter movement to the culture the previous chapters created. Giggie use of sources was vast. His information is drawn from religious black newspapers, interviews of ex-slaves, autobiographies, and recordings of African American music and expressions. Giggie's goal in writing After …show more content…
Despite the racial segregation, the railroad showed signs of economic progress. It does not go into detail about the railroad impacted the lives of the people and the role it played in the long term developments of African Americans aspirations and achievements. The second section is about the development and relationship of the black fraternal orders and their influence on the Black Church. These societies sought to be Christian organizations and played a significant part in developing the Black culture. These orders offered funeral plans, health insurance, employment opportunities, and secure social networking. These orders helped to provide many resources to help the community survive and progress during this