Reconstruction and Its Unresolved Legacy: An Interview with Eric Foner

Traditional View: Historian Eric Foner explains that until the mid-20th century, Reconstruction was taught as a low point of corruption and misgovernment caused by the supposed "incapacity" of black citizens.
Cultural Reinforcement: Negative stereotypes were solidified by films such as Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind, and the bestseller The Tragic Era by Claude Bowers.
Political Utility: This negative image served to justify the Jim Crow system and the disenfranchisement of African Americans well into the 1960s.
Contemporary Scholarship: Modern historians view Reconstruction as a positive, landmark struggle for equality and a critical moment in American democracy.

Special Field Order No. 15: Issued by General William T. Sherman in January 1865 after meeting with black ministers in Savannah who identified land ownership as the key to genuine freedom.
40 Acres and a Mule: Sherman divided the South Carolina and Georgia coasts into 40-acre plots for black families; approximately 40,000 to 50,000 people were settled on "Sherman land."
Reversal under Andrew Johnson: After Abraham Lincoln's assassination, President Johnson ordered the land returned to former owners, forcing former slaves into labor contracts and leading to a lasting sense of betrayal noted in 1930s WPA slave narratives.

Civil Rights Act of 1866: Declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens, establishing national legal equality and overturning the 1857 Dred Scott decision. It was the first major law passed over a presidential veto.
Reconstruction Act of 1867: Established new Southern governments based on universal male suffrage, regardless of race.
14th Amendment (July 1868): Constitutionalized birthright citizenship and "equal protection of the laws." It shifted the balance of power, making the federal government the "custodian of freedom" with the power to override state actions.
15th Amendment: Guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied based on race, applying to the entire nation.

Officeholders: Between 1,500 and 2,000 black men served in elected public offices during Reconstruction, holding positions from justice of the peace to sheriff and state legislator.
National Representatives: 16 black men served in the House of Representatives, and two served in the Senate: Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, both from Mississippi.
"Black Carpetbaggers": Educated black leaders from the North moved South during this period to participate in political uplifting and interracial democracy.

Terrorism: The Ku Klux Klan (established 1866) functioned as homegrown American terrorism, using violence to deprive African Americans of voting rights and economic independence.
Northern Retreat: By the late 19th century, the North abandoned Reconstruction due to the rise of social Darwinism and American imperialism (e.g., in the Philippines and Puerto Rico).
Systematic Suppression: Southern states enacted poll taxes and literacy tests to bypass the 15th Amendment and implement the Jim Crow system, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Q: What did Terry Gross ask regarding the bad image of Reconstruction in history books?
A: She asked how Foner's positive view compares to the negative view of "scalawags and carpetbaggers" many people were raised on. Foner explained the old view was propaganda designed to justify white supremacy.
Q: What was Lincoln's stance on black rights before his death?
A: Foner noted Lincoln's "capacity for growth." While he once favored colonization, by his final speech he advocated for the right to vote for black soldiers and "the very intelligent" black men.
Q: How did Andrew Johnson argue against civil rights legislation?
A: Johnson used dual appeals to states' rights and racism, arguing that the federal government should not tell states how to treat citizens and that black people were "inferior" and incapable of understanding citizenship.
Q: How does Foner define freedom differently for different groups?
A: Foner argues that for many white people, freedom is something they possess and fear losing, whereas for many black people, freedom is an ongoing process and a future aspiration.