bwaber@bookwyrm.social reviewed Reconstruction by Eric Foner (New American nation series)
A Comprehensive, Devastating Book on One of America's Biggest Lost Opportunities
5 stars
Eric Foner has penned a masterpiece, compiling voluminous evidence to vividly illustrate the heady days of the early Reconstruction period in the South, its complements in the North, and its unceremonious collapse and failure. That many of the initial reforms implemented during Reconstruction, such as the illegality of vagrancy laws due to their inherent racism, are still a problem in the modern US is a glaring indictment of the failures of our country to grapple with the roots of our problems and the strong hold racism still has on the country. The strange and shifting alliances that eventually led to the demise of Reconstruction was also fascinating/depressing, with the outsized role of labor contract structure and public debt to fuel railroad speculation standing out. For anyone who lives in the US, works with anyone from here, or simply wants to understand how systematic racism reconfigures, this is an essential book. …
Eric Foner has penned a masterpiece, compiling voluminous evidence to vividly illustrate the heady days of the early Reconstruction period in the South, its complements in the North, and its unceremonious collapse and failure. That many of the initial reforms implemented during Reconstruction, such as the illegality of vagrancy laws due to their inherent racism, are still a problem in the modern US is a glaring indictment of the failures of our country to grapple with the roots of our problems and the strong hold racism still has on the country. The strange and shifting alliances that eventually led to the demise of Reconstruction was also fascinating/depressing, with the outsized role of labor contract structure and public debt to fuel railroad speculation standing out. For anyone who lives in the US, works with anyone from here, or simply wants to understand how systematic racism reconfigures, this is an essential book. Highly recommend.