The Campaign of 1866 was not just electoral.
It was a referendum written in fire and blood.
#Reconstruction #CampaignOf1866 #MemphisRiot #NewOrleansMassacre #RadicalReconstruction #BlackHistory #USHistory #EricFoner
A page from Reconstruction, 1863–1877 describing Thaddeus Stevens introducing House debates on what would become the 14th Amendment. It includes discussion of equal operation of law, representation clauses, Confederate disenfranchisement, and the political maneuvering that weakened Stevens’s preferred version.
The passage where Thaddeus Stevens reflects on his lifelong dream of a just republic and laments that Reconstruction reforms will merely “patch up the worst portions of the ancient edifice” instead of remaking American institutions free from oppression.
Text explaining criticisms of the amendment for allowing states to limit suffrage and for introducing the word “male” into the Constitution, prompting opposition from abolitionists and women’s rights leaders.
His despair wasn’t melodrama—it was prophecy.
#Reconstruction #14thAmendment #ThaddeusStevens #RadicalRepublicans #USHistory #EricFoner
A photo of a page from Eric Foner’s Reconstruction, 1863–1877. The text discusses the Republican push for the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, resistance from President Andrew Johnson, senators warning of conflict if it were vetoed, and Johnson’s explicit rejection of Black citizenship. It includes racist arguments Johnson used claiming the bill favored Black people over whites and that immigrants were more deserving of citizenship.
A second photo of the following page. The heading reads The Making of Radical Reconstruction. The text explains how Johnson’s veto became a political disaster, uniting Republicans against him. It quotes Frederick Douglass on the deep roots of states’-rights ideology and recounts Johnson responding approvingly to a racist shout alleging the Civil Rights Act would “keep the nigger down.”
#Reconstruction #CivilRightsAct1866 #AndrewJohnson #BlackHistory #RadicalReconstruction #EricFoner
Two close-up photos of pages from Eric Foner’s Reconstruction, 1863–1877. The text discusses the failure of early “New South” economic plans, Southern attempts to attract European immigrants as plantation labor, an anecdote about Swedes rejecting slave-like conditions, and a quote from A. B. Cooper arguing that the South must abandon the idea of commanding laborers and instead receive them as free and equal men.
Two close-up photos of pages from Eric Foner’s Reconstruction, 1863–1877. The text discusses the failure of early “New South” economic plans, Southern attempts to attract European immigrants as plantation labor, an anecdote about Swedes rejecting slave-like conditions, and a quote from A. B. Cooper arguing that the South must abandon the idea of commanding laborers and instead receive them as free and equal men.
— Black, immigrant, or otherwise — as fully human, free, and equal.
#Reconstruction #NewSouth #LaborHistory #BlackHistory #EricFoner
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But in 1865, President Andrew Johnson restored the land to former Confederates.
The promise of forty acres and a mule was erased — the dream of land and liberty undone by a pen. ✒️
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #FortyAcresAndAMule #EricFoner #BlackHistory
The fall of the slaveholding class was not just economic — it was the collapse of an entire social order built on human bondage.
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
Despite terror, Black social and political mobilization persisted—a testament to courage in the face of lethal repression. ✊🏿
#Reconstruction #BlackHistory #CivilRights #EricFoner #AmericanHistory
Even freedom was framed as labor control. The struggle was never just about emancipation—it was about who would define the meaning of “free labor.”
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #BlackHistory #EricFoner
Yet by 1864, as Nashville’s Black community organized and backed him, Johnson’s rhetoric shifted. He began addressing Black gatherings directly, even proclaiming, “I will indeed be your Moses.”
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #EricFoner #History
And tied it all together with the potent glue of white supremacy.
Their slogan: “The Union as It Is, the Constitution as It Was”—with the unstated corollary: Black people remain as they were.
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
War built a “new government”—bigger, stronger, and deeply tied to the people’s daily lives.
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
A new national banking system centralized power in the hands of Wall Street, laying the groundwork for postwar economic dominance.
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
💵 From Eric Foner’s Reconstruction:
The Civil War didn’t just reshape politics—it transformed the economy.
The Union raised over $400 million in paper money, issued bonds, and taxed heavily, shifting wealth upward.
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
In Mississippi, deserters hid in the woods. Loyal Leagues spread news, urged desertion, and kept Union forces informed.
It wasn’t just North vs. South—there was a civil war within the Civil War. ⚔️
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
A close-up of a page from Eric Foner’s Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877. The text describes how, in the Southern upcountry, enthusiasm for the Civil War gave way to disillusionment, draft evasion, and resistance to Confederate authority. By 1863, desertion was a major problem, and by war’s end over 100,000 men had deserted, especially among poor non-slaveholders. In Mississippi, deserters hid in hill country and piney woods, while groups like Choctaw County’s Loyal League helped undermine the Confederacy by advising desertion and informing Union forces of Confederate movements.
📖 From Eric Foner’s Reconstruction:
By 1863, disillusionment in the Southern upcountry turned into mass desertion—over 100,000 Confederate soldiers walked away by war’s end. Most were poor non-slaveholders with little reason to fight for a planter elite.
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
A close-up photo of a page from Eric Foner’s Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877. The text discusses resistance to the Confederacy in mountainous areas such as East Tennessee, northern Alabama, and Rabun County, Georgia. It includes a colorful quote from a Winston County, Alabama resident rejecting secession and planter domination, and notes a July 4, 1861 convention where 3,000 residents voted to take Winston out of the Confederacy.
📖 Reading Eric Foner’s Reconstruction and came across this passage:
> “All tha want is to git you … to fight for their infernal negroes and after you do their fightin’ you may kiss their hine parts for o tha care.”
#Reconstruction #CivilWar #History #EricFoner
Broken Promises
My review of Eric Foner's Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 #USHistory #USCivilWar #Reconstruction #EricFoner #BlackHistoryMonth #FredrickDouglass
History Book Reviews: GREAT AND SHATTERED DREAMS
jeremyshistoryreviews.blogspot.com/2011/05/grea...
A paperback copy of Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 by Eric Foner rests on a dark brown table. The cover shows a black-and-white historical photo of several Black men and boys sitting near ruins of buildings after the Civil War. To the right of the book is a white ceramic mug with a “Niagara Falls, Canada” design, filled with black coffee.
📚 Next up: Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 by Eric Foner.
A deep dive into one of the most transformative—and contested—eras in U.S. history. 🇺🇸
#BookSky #BlackSky
#Reconstruction #EricFoner #AmericanHistory #NowReading
Freedom, Reconstructed: Honoring the Struggle ✊📚✉️
www.instagram.com/reel/DIbZ12n...
#ReconstructionEra #EricFoner #EmancipationMemorial #13thAmendment #StampCollecting #PhilatelyMeetsHistory #BlackHistory #USHistory #CivilWarLegacy #BookRecommendation
📜✨ February 1 – National Freedom Day: The 13th Amendment & the Fight for Justice 📖
www.instagram.com/reel/DFiA89n...
#NationalFreedomDay #February1 #Emancipation #Reconstruction #EricFoner #StampCollecting #HistoryMatters #13thAmendment
