Why does the brief period known as Reconstruction, a century and a half ago, still influence the state of the Union so heavily?
As the eminent historian Eric Foner explains in “The Second Founding,” the failure of the United States “to build an egalitarian society on the ashes of slavery” between 1865 and 1877 — the years conventionally associated with Reconstruction — left defining national issues unresolved: who should have the right to vote; who should get citizenship and the imprimatur of belonging in the United States; and how to provide equal opportunity for people who lack wealth and power.
Read Full Article »
