ABSTRACT
Reconstruction has become a classic work, presenting a clear and compelling account of the end of the American Civil War and the era that followed it. Although legalized slavery is a thing of the past and progress been made in American democracy and race relations since Reconstruction, including the election of Barack Obama as first black president in 2009, racism persists, and African Americans and other minorities continue to face discrimination. In the future, scholars will continue to discover new primary sources and ask novel questions about key periods in American history such as Civil War and Reconstruction. Foner makes clear that, while freedom and equality have been common doctrine of American political administrations over time, these elements have always excluded certain groups, such as women and African Americans during Reconstruction. Eric Foner’s Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 is widely considered to be most important and substantial revisionist account to date of changes and challenges following the American Civil War.
