<p><em>This is a free excerpt of Episode 5. To hear more, join Slate Plus --&gt; </em><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/slate_plus/reconstruction.html"><em>slate.com/reconstruction</em></a></p><p>The collapse of the antebellum Southern legal order left freedpeople exposed to violence from whites desperately trying to re-establish racial hierarchies. Some black people tried to defend themselves, acquiring weapons and forming militias. How common—and how effective—was that strategy?</p><p>In Episode 5 of <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/slate_plus/reconstruction.html?utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=slate-academy&amp;utm_content=Reconstruction&amp;utm_source=article">Reconstruction: A Slate Academy</a>, Rebecca Onion and Jamelle Bouie are joined by Kidada Williams, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0814795366/?tag=slatmaga-20"><strong><em>They Left Great Marks on Me: African American Testimonies of Racial Violence from Emancipation to World War I</em></strong></a>.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>