A Short History Of Reconstruction Summary

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A Short History of Reconstruction By: Eric Forner Book Review The Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner gives insight about the years after the Civil War and the Reconstruction of America. This book covers the time span of the entire Reconstruction and spans from the end of the Civil War to just before the 1900’s. It focuses more on the South’s Reconstruction than the North, because the war had a greater and more identifiable effect in the South. One of the most widespread complications of the Reconstruction that Forner discusses was the lack of housing and jobs for the newly freed blacks. A great contributor to this issue was racism among the white population. Whites in both the North and South felt that they should not have to compete with blacks for jobs and felt that they should be a submissive race like they were before. Many whites were horrified and insulted at the fact that blacks were trying to get employment in any other job other than farming and field…show more content…
This was caused by both the war and the lack of workers who were willing to work in the cotton and rice fields after it was over. The war was quite expensive and the lack of workers would lead to an inability to get crops and goods out for trade. Free blacks refused to return to the fields and would resist by any means, but were not allowed into many other occupations. Many whites were too proud to work in the fields themselves, so no one was willing to do so, causing the inability to get goods to market. In the North, the the reconstruction had the opposite effect. Though the cost of the war was great, the commerce in the North blossomed. Since there were so many immigrants coming in, there were more workers to work the railroads, the factories, and other jobs. The immigration also helped the North’s westward expansion into the newly acquired land out in the mid
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