Hans L. Trefousse
Hans L. Trefousse (December 18, 1921 – January 8, 2010) was an American author, historian, and professor emeritus at Brooklyn College from 1950 to 1998.[1] He also taught as a distinguished professor of history at City University of New York.[2]
Contents
Early life
Trefousse was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States in the 1930s.[1] He graduated from New York City College in 1942.[2] He then enlisted in the Army where he served as an intelligence officer in WW II, using his fluent German to interrogate German soldiers.[1]
Career
Trefousse focused his work on the history of the Reconstruction, and wrote books on Andrew Johnson and Rutherford B. Hayes. In the 1960s, he confronted the dominant historical narrative of the time regarding Reconstruction, arguing instead that Reconstruction was a failed attempt "to bring racial justice to the South."[2] In total he authored over twenty books.[2]
He gained media attention during Bill Clinton's impeachment for drawing comparisons to Johnson's impeachment.
Books
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- The Radical Republicans: Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice
- Andrew Johnson
- Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction
- Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian
- Reconstruction: America's First Effort at Racial Democracy
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- German and American Neutrality, 1939-1941
- Ben Butler: The South Called Him Beast!
- Carl Schurz: A Biography
- Pearl Harbor: The Continuing Controversy
- Benjamin Franklin Wade: Radical Republican from Ohio
References
- Incomplete lists from February 2011
- Historians of the United States
- Expatriate academics in the United States
- Jewish historians
- City College of New York alumni
- Writers from New York City
- 1921 births
- 2010 deaths
- Guggenheim Fellows
- Brooklyn College faculty
- City University of New York faculty
- German emigrants to the United States
