Originally published on August 3, 2016 (Episode 67)
Introduction
The Post-Civil War period of Reconstruction is one of the least understood—and most misunderstood—eras in American history. Myths and “engravings” cloud our vision, leaving many Americans with faulty impressions of what really happened between 1865 and 1877.
Historian Douglas Egerton helps set the record straight. In his book The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America’s Most Progressive Era (Bloomsbury, 2014), Egerton reveals the promise, struggle, and tragedy of an era that reshaped American politics, race relations, and democracy itself.
About the Guest
Douglas Egerton is Professor of History at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. He is the author of numerous books on slavery, liberty, and politics in early America, including Year of Meteors and Death or Liberty.
For Further Investigation
Douglas Egerton, The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America’s Most Progressive Era (Bloomsbury, 2014)
—, Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought on the Civil War (Bloomsbury, 2010)
—, Death or Liberty: African Americans and Revolutionary America (OUP, 2009)
Maria Bradby, More Than Anything Else—a children’s book on literacy after slavery, through the story of how Booker T. Washington learned to read
Listen & Discuss
What myths about Reconstruction do you still hear repeated today? Leave a comment and share this episode with a friend or colleague who could use a clearer picture of this critical era.
