Edward King (author)

Edward King (1848–1896) was an American author and journalist born in Middlefield, Massachusetts.

[2] King's journal The Great South; A Record of Journeys, published in 1875, is an important source about attitudes in the post-Civil War United States.

King's deeply racist characterizations of Southern society were influential in creating a view of Reconstruction as an economic failure and a political travesty.

In a typical chapter on The Spoilation of South Carolina King writes that African Americans are "insolent and aggressive," whereas "The white people of the State are powerless to resist; they are trampled completely down."

(Chapter LI) King's negative characterizations of Black Americans and of Reconstruction helped create stereotypes that proved long-lasting.