![]() ![]() The way he conceives of the second founding is the expansion of what it means to be a citizen and who is allowed to be citizens so that the promises of liberty and freedom that are implicit in the founding of the US expand gradually, starting in reconstruction to include more and more people. There is a theme throughout Foner’s work of the reconstruction being a second founding, and he views that broadly. ![]() The real difference is the greater space given to the historical context in Foner’s Second Founding. ![]() The Second Founding, in some ways, is a book-length exploration of what Akhil Reed Amar did in a single chapter in his America’s Constitution: A Biography. The Second Founding is mainly looking at the history around the Reconstruction Constitutional Amendments, the 13th, 14th, and 15th. I am a big fan of Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 by Eric Foner. I have yet to read his biography of Lincoln or his book on the Underground Railroad, but those are both on my list to get to eventually. ![]() Summary: A historical look at the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments in the context of reconstruction history. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |