Ben Waber reviewed The Second Founding by Eric Foner
A More Focused Look at the Constitutional Changes Brought by Reconstruction
4 stars
Contrasting with much of Foner's other work, this is a focused book examining the motivations, crafting, and legacy of the Constitutional changes brought about by the Civil War and Reconstruction. This historical context is extremely important today, with the potential to utilize some of the early applications of these new amendments to build a fairer society. As with many other books on this topic, Foner demonstrates how these amendments fundamentally stunted the still unfinished work of reconstruction by continuing (albeit more limited) forms of slavery and sanctioning segregation and current unfair discriminatory acts. I would've liked a lot more examination of how these amendments played out post-Reconstruction in the legal realm, however. Highly recommend
Contrasting with much of Foner's other work, this is a focused book examining the motivations, crafting, and legacy of the Constitutional changes brought about by the Civil War and Reconstruction. This historical context is extremely important today, with the potential to utilize some of the early applications of these new amendments to build a fairer society. As with many other books on this topic, Foner demonstrates how these amendments fundamentally stunted the still unfinished work of reconstruction by continuing (albeit more limited) forms of slavery and sanctioning segregation and current unfair discriminatory acts. I would've liked a lot more examination of how these amendments played out post-Reconstruction in the legal realm, however. Highly recommend
