actively, honestly, and expertly ensure the public’s well-being, however they understood it. By 1896, both major parties had embraced this turn toward government, setting the stage for Progressive Era reform. Ironically, though, in expanding their authority, federal courts undermined states’ ability to regulate corporate activity and the terms of work. Underlying much of his story, White argues, is Gilded Age Americans’ understanding that the family and home, not the individual, was the basic constituent unit of their society. Every manner of American justified every manner of government or private action in the name of perpetuating the patriarchal household—whether it be enfranchising former slaves or lynching them, winning workingmen a living wage or expelling workingmen who were Chinese, expropriating Indians’ land or forcing land upon them in pint-sized plots of private property. Because this book is intended for general readers and not just academics, such central concepts as “contract freedom” and “antimonopolism” might have borne more patient explication. Still, anyone interested in Texas and the republic to which it belongs should set some weeks aside for this big, smart porcupine of a book.

中文翻译：

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杰克·赫尔姆船长：查克·帕森斯（Chuck Parsons）的重建暴力受害者

积极、诚实和专业地确保公众的福祉，无论他们如何理解。到 1896 年，两个主要政党都接受了这种向政府的转变，为进步时代的改革奠定了基础。然而具有讽刺意味的是，联邦法院在扩大其权力时削弱了各州监管公司活动和工作条款的能力。怀特认为，他的大部分故事背后是镀金时代美国人的理解，即家庭和家庭，而不是个人，是他们社会的基本组成单位。每一种美国人都以延续父权制家庭的名义为各种政府或私人行动辩护——无论是赋予前奴隶的权利还是对他们处以私刑，为工人赢得生活工资，还是驱逐华裔工人，征用印第安人的土地或以小型私有财产的形式将土地强加给他们。因为这本书是为一般读者而不仅仅是学术界的，所以“合同自由”和“反垄断”等核心概念可能会得到更多耐心的解释。尽管如此，任何对德克萨斯州及其所属共和国感兴趣的人都应该为这本大而聪明的豪猪留出几周时间。