A Short History of Reconstruction, 1863-1877
by Eric Foner
View on GoodreadsReconstruction was a real chance to remake American society, with Black citizenship, political equality and land for the freedpeople, and racism, violence, economic interests and the North's fading commitment defeated it. Eric Foner's own abridgment cuts his 1988 history from about 690 pages to about 320 and keeps the formerly enslaved at the center.
Core ideas
- An unfinished revolution: The failure to give plantation land to the freedpeople left them without economic independence, which is why he calls it unfinished.
- Rise and reversal: Through presidential Reconstruction under Lincoln and Andrew Johnson and then Radical Reconstruction, Black political participation grew before Redemption undid it.
- A new citizenship: Between the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and 1877, federal power grew and a new idea of national citizenship took shape.
Published1990
Pages297
ISBN9780060964313
ReadAug 2022
