Adelbert Ames: Idealistic Carpetbagger?

            In class on Tuesday, April 23^rd, we discussed the book “Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War” by Nicholas Lehmann. As the title suggests, it deals with the topic of Redemption, the post-Civil War period in which white Democrats and their supporters regained control of the governments and societies of the former Confederate states from federally-imposed Republican rule. Interestingly enough, however, Lehmann chose to present his view on this topic through a historical protagonist: Adelbert Ames. This is noteworthy because Ames was a white northerner, what his southern contemporaries would have called a carpetbagger. However, I found Ames to be an interesting character because he did not exactly fit the stereotype of a normal carpetbagger, or even a normal white person of the time. Ames’s view on black equality evolved to be more progressive than the norm of that time, and although he did have an ambitious nature, Ames seemed to be somewhat more idealistic than the stereotype of a carpetbagger would suggest.
            Ames began his career as a prominent officer in the Union army. The connections he made here later helped him in his political life. During this time, though, Ames believed that blacks did not even need to have suffrage. However, as he was appointed and elected to such positions in Mississippi as senator and governor for the Republican Party, Ames began to realize the plight of the blacks who resided in the South. Eventually, Ames came to support black suffrage as well as many other rights for black equality. This obviously did not seem like the concerns of a power-hungry carpetbagger. That is not to say, though, that Ames did not enjoy his ambitions’ successes. However, he did hold certain morals and values very highly and steadfastly. A more personal, but potentially telling, example of this balance between ambition and ideals within Ames was his choice for marriage. Ames married Blanche Butler, daughter of the prominent politician Benjamin Butler. However, if one examines the numerous love letters between the two, it becomes quite obvious that Ames ultimately married for love. In the end, Adelbert Ames was an, indeed, ambitious man that was nonetheless guided by steady and just morals, values, and ideals.