eric foner reconstruction america's unfinished revolution

This created a major problem for the South and put them in agricultural poverty. Stemming from their major cash crop cotton, the South’s agriculture scene was declining due to the dropping price of cotton. Foners work did lack some attention to how the agricultural element of the South’s economy played a part in their society. Foner aides his argument with descriptions of Klansmen beating and lynching blacks to demonstrate how they feel usurped of their old ways. Foner points out that Southerners had no patience or time for a new social order. As blacks continued to push out the old ways of Southern society by introducing schools and social institutions, the Klan would strike with bloodshed and burnings. Change in the South was hard to digest for the population.

Foner’s idea of a revolution becomes clearer and well oriented with the introduction of the Ku Klux Klan. Foner’s argument is convincing, he goes on to discuss how the end of free labor in the South contributed to a major economic, social, and political change. After 1863, a revolution was set in place and new Southern society was being constructed. The country had to account for 20,000 freed individuals. His analysis of the reconstruction era breaks down how the United States was changing, socially and politically. Foner’s argument is backed by evidence alluding to a revolution. That significant event its self was revolutionary not just for the former slaves, but everyone who lived in the United States, especially the South. It was the largest social and political change the United States had ever seen. Du Bois book showed an impact on the country when slaves became free people. Du Bois’s work perfectly aided Foner’s argument. Rising out of the ashes of the Confederacy was an insurmountable thought for any slave. Foner’s use of Du Bois 1935 book, Black Reconstruction in America, is brought up to discuss how former slaves adapted to modern day society in the South. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America to work done by Fredrick Douglas. Foner explores a vast range of writings from W.E.B. These motifs in Foner’s work are aided with the insight from a few pieces of literature.

Foner’s last point shows how the government dealt with identifying the newly freed slaves and how national citizenship and race would factor into social and political decisions.

Foner then examines how race and class functioned in a new Southern society. Foner then touches on how Southern society was changed after the war. Foner’s book sheds light on how the black experience became consolidated through the transition from slave to a free person. Foner highlights four motifs during the Reconstruction era. Foner discusses the revolution and how it impacted the people living in the country, notably through the black experience.

Eric foner reconstruction america's unfinished revolution