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sjgrodsky's review against another edition
4.0
I wanted to increase my knowledge of Reconstruction, since my grammar school classes taught me no more than the term. Now I understand why the administrators of MCPS didn't encourage teaching of this complicated, non-cinematic period of history. It's a political hot potato. I can see the well-educated, engaged parents of Montgomery County, Maryland, calling the school board in fury, some complaining that the presentation is too sympathetic to blacks, others complaining that it is not sympathetic enough.
What I learned:
--That over 200,000 blacks served in the Union Army and that Reconstruction was a well-deserved reward for the military service. Lincoln and his fellow Republicans realized that once-wealthy defeated southerners would, unless prevented by force, remake the feudal, racist system that had ensured their once-comfortable lives.
--That when freed, blacks rushed to many activities that had been denied them for so long. They made diligent, and often fruitless efforts to contact family members that had been sold away. They married in huge numbers. They attended school, founding many of the black colleges and universities that supplied leaders of both the first Reconstruction (1865-72) and the civil rights era, sometimes called the "Second Reconstruction". They attempted to establish farms (this was mostly unsuccessful because they lacked money to buy land). They established small businesses.
--That the romanticized "Lost Cause" view of the antebellum south legitimized the rolling back of civil rights.
--That the cutting off of immigration from Europe in 1924 created labor shortages in northern factories. Those jobs were filled by blacks migrating north from the hellacious Jim Crow south. Interesting that one form a prejudice (anti-immigrant racism) opened a path for others to escape another form of prejudice (anti-black racism).
What (Surprisingly) Wasn't Discussed:
--The role of "Gone With the Wind" (GWTW) in popularizing the romantic view of the south. Joshua Brown discusses "The Clansman" novel and its movie form (Birth of a Nation) in detail but misses the far more influential GWTW. How influential? A recent post on the GWTW discussion thread on GoodReads repeats the tired canard about "kind masters and happy darkies". Well into the 21st century and Mitchell's racist cartoon lives on.
--The role of the Holocaust in reducing racism during the last half of the 20th century. Foner recognizes that people were horrified by Hitler's concept of a "master race". But he does not see that Jews were demonized in Germany, just as blacks were during and after Reconstruction. The difference is only that American racism did not descend into broad-scale murder.
The visual essays are the most accessible parts of the book. Otherwise, it is a work of serious (though not academic) history. It won't be everyone's taste, but I learned plenty. It repaid my effort.
What I learned:
--That over 200,000 blacks served in the Union Army and that Reconstruction was a well-deserved reward for the military service. Lincoln and his fellow Republicans realized that once-wealthy defeated southerners would, unless prevented by force, remake the feudal, racist system that had ensured their once-comfortable lives.
--That when freed, blacks rushed to many activities that had been denied them for so long. They made diligent, and often fruitless efforts to contact family members that had been sold away. They married in huge numbers. They attended school, founding many of the black colleges and universities that supplied leaders of both the first Reconstruction (1865-72) and the civil rights era, sometimes called the "Second Reconstruction". They attempted to establish farms (this was mostly unsuccessful because they lacked money to buy land). They established small businesses.
--That the romanticized "Lost Cause" view of the antebellum south legitimized the rolling back of civil rights.
--That the cutting off of immigration from Europe in 1924 created labor shortages in northern factories. Those jobs were filled by blacks migrating north from the hellacious Jim Crow south. Interesting that one form a prejudice (anti-immigrant racism) opened a path for others to escape another form of prejudice (anti-black racism).
What (Surprisingly) Wasn't Discussed:
--The role of "Gone With the Wind" (GWTW) in popularizing the romantic view of the south. Joshua Brown discusses "The Clansman" novel and its movie form (Birth of a Nation) in detail but misses the far more influential GWTW. How influential? A recent post on the GWTW discussion thread on GoodReads repeats the tired canard about "kind masters and happy darkies". Well into the 21st century and Mitchell's racist cartoon lives on.
--The role of the Holocaust in reducing racism during the last half of the 20th century. Foner recognizes that people were horrified by Hitler's concept of a "master race". But he does not see that Jews were demonized in Germany, just as blacks were during and after Reconstruction. The difference is only that American racism did not descend into broad-scale murder.
The visual essays are the most accessible parts of the book. Otherwise, it is a work of serious (though not academic) history. It won't be everyone's taste, but I learned plenty. It repaid my effort.
johnw613's review against another edition
challenging
informative
fast-paced
5.0
An incisive brief survey of the tumultuous dozen years following the Civil War. The era of Reconstruction was long misunderstood and mis-characterized and this study, along with Foner’s previously published definitive history of the era, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, go a long way toward righting a host of historiographical wrongs.
In many ways Reconstruction can be considered a failed attempt at reinventing not just the South but the entire American way of life. The groundwork laid by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution saw a further flowering a century later with the Brown decision in 1954 undoing Plessy v. Ferguson, and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. While much still remains to be done, the twentieth century’s advancements would not have been possible without the successes of the nineteenth.
Interspersed among Foner’s eloquently argued narrative are six Visual Essay sections curated and discussed by Joshua Brown. These correlating essays show how various important themes from the era were reflected in contemporary artworks as a demonstration of how the issues of the time deeply interacted with popular culture.
For the fullest understanding of the period, read Foner’s magisterial earlier volume. This study has much value as well by including Brown’s visual essays as well as tying the successes and failures of Reconstruction to our own time.
In many ways Reconstruction can be considered a failed attempt at reinventing not just the South but the entire American way of life. The groundwork laid by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution saw a further flowering a century later with the Brown decision in 1954 undoing Plessy v. Ferguson, and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. While much still remains to be done, the twentieth century’s advancements would not have been possible without the successes of the nineteenth.
Interspersed among Foner’s eloquently argued narrative are six Visual Essay sections curated and discussed by Joshua Brown. These correlating essays show how various important themes from the era were reflected in contemporary artworks as a demonstration of how the issues of the time deeply interacted with popular culture.
For the fullest understanding of the period, read Foner’s magisterial earlier volume. This study has much value as well by including Brown’s visual essays as well as tying the successes and failures of Reconstruction to our own time.
princessleia4life's review
5.0
Foner is a great writer and presents subjects thought as "boring" in a thought-provoking way. I heavily recommend him.
ckadams5's review
5.0
Eric Foner is one of America's pre-eminent historians of the Civil War and the era thereabout. I first read him when my Legal History professor in law school couldn't help mentioning Foner's name at least once per lecture all semester. This book, focused on reconstruction and the false narrative on reconstruction so many of us were fed in school, was not only well-researched and written, but included significant sections on the visual culture of the era which added a great deal to the material.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
5.0
Civil War buffs know that Foner is the go-to person for Reconstruction history, so this book is worth it for that reason alone.
But, this is a two-author work. And, Joshua Brown's essays on visual depictions of black Americans during Reconstruction are worth reading all by themselves.
But, this is a two-author work. And, Joshua Brown's essays on visual depictions of black Americans during Reconstruction are worth reading all by themselves.
jmkmirkes's review against another edition
5.0
If you read any history book on Reconstruction, read Eric Foner. This book's focus on African Americans though proves that the North won the war but the South won the peace. It details the beautiful promises Reconstruction held for African Americans and the possibility of some sort of racial equality following the war but how it ended so badly and instead created the most brutal era for African Americans. Easy, quick but informative read.
thecolourblue's review against another edition
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.25
The Reconstruction is a fascinating and important brief period in American history, and Foner certainly comes across as an expert in this text. Despite the shortness of the time period, this book is covering a lot of ground - political struggles, domestic terrorism, individual stories, media reactions... and for me it ended up being both pretty dense to read but simultaneously not digging in as deep as I would have liked in some areas. I do think this is a good jumping off point for researching or reading more on the Reconstruction (I definitely want to read DuBois even more now), maybe best followed up by some reading that focuses in on specific elements or people from the time.
Also, in the edition I read the reproductions of many of the images were pretty low-quality and hard to see, which made the visual essays lose some of their impact.
Also, in the edition I read the reproductions of many of the images were pretty low-quality and hard to see, which made the visual essays lose some of their impact.
crankylibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Taught me more about the Civil War, Reconstruction, an the significance of the 14th and 15th amendments than I learned in years of school. If you think you know what Reconstruction was about, you are probably wrong.
lily2655's review against another edition
5.0
"But for history to have any value, it must be remembered accurately."