The Declaration of Independence announced equality as an American ideal but it took the Civil War and the adoption of three constitutional amendments to establish that ideal as law. The Reconstruction amendments abolished slavery, guaranteed due process and the equal protection of the law, and equipped black men with the right to vote. By grafting the principle of equality onto the Constitution, the amendments marked the second founding of the United States.

Eric Foner conveys the dramatic origins of these revolutionary amendments and explores the court decisions that then narrowed and nullified the rights guaranteed in these amendments. Today, issues of birthright citizenship, voting rights, due process and equal protection are still in dispute; the ideal of equality yet to be achieved.

About the Author
Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. In his teaching and scholarship, he focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association. In 2006, he received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching from Columbia University. His most recent books are The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, winner of the Bancroft and Lincoln Prizes and the Pulitzer Prize for History; Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, winner of the New York Historical Society Book Prize; and The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.

Reviews
"An outstanding scholarly contribution... disciplined, powerful, and moving." -- The New York Times Book Review
"Lucid and succinct." -- The Washington Post
"This brisk but far-reaching book... argues that the principal issues of our own troubled time pose the same conundrums that were the main areas of Reconstruction contention." -- Boston Globe


Awards
Long-listed for Cundill History Prize 2020.



Book Information
ISBN 9780393358520
Author Eric Foner
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 236g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 20mm