Hello my lovely readers! This was the book I chose to read for #MegaMay on Bookstagram. Let's get into it!
SYNOPSIS
Reconstruction chronicles the way in which Americans—black and white—responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the war and the end of slavery. It addresses the ways in which the emancipated slaves' quest for economic autonomy and equal citizenship shaped the political agenda of Reconstruction; the remodeling of Southern society and the place of planters, merchants, and small farmers within it; the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations; and the emergence of a national state possessing vastly expanded authority and committed, for a time, to the principle of equal rights for all Americans.
MY THOUGHTS
Alright....so...this was a behemoth of a book and I'm proud of myself of getting through it (even though I've read longer books...looking at you Red Comet and The New Negro, but they were biographies...so it's a bit different).
It was incredibly well-researched and is an important read.
The being said....I'm sorry, but I am NOT a political girlie and this was way more political than I thought it would be! Remember, I didn't know ANYTHING about Reconstruction before I read this book. I know, I know...take my Black card, but I was never taught it in school and then it just never came up in college or my talks with my parents or my general interests in the books I was reading (this was before I became a non-fiction, history and biography girlie).
So, I really went into this book blind. It was pretty overwhelming and an exhaustive read. I wish there was more about the social aspect of Reconstruction and how it affected the day to day lives of Black people, poor white southerners etc.
I'll recommend this book, but before going in, make sure you have an interest in politics and economics!
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