EPISODE · Apr 25, 2026 · 1H 33M
The Brooks-Baxter War
from The American Narrative: Histories of a Nation
The Brooks-Baxter War was not a mere accident that arose from Arkansas’s contentious 1872 gubernatorial election. Rather, it was a cataclysmic consequence of intense political infighting and systemic corruption that defined Reconstruction. Although the conflict is named after its principal disputants, it was anarchy that ultimately prevailed. This thirty-day struggle in 1874 would ultimately reshape Arkansas's political trajectory for the next nine decades.
What this episode covers
The Brooks-Baxter War was not a mere accident that arose from Arkansas’s contentious 1872 gubernatorial election. Rather, it was a cataclysmic consequence of intense political infighting and systemic corruption that defined Reconstruction. Although the conflict is named after its principal disputants, it was anarchy that ultimately prevailed. This thirty-day struggle in 1874 would ultimately reshape Arkansas's political trajectory for the next nine decades.
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The Brooks-Baxter War
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