Eric Foner

When I think of Columbia, I think of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse because, just as Siddhartha experiences extremes before understanding the whole of existence, Columbians have their knowledge stretched between two polar opposites before realizing themselves. When I embarked upon reading Gateway to the Great Books, I learned that it was just the prelude of a project started in Columbia. However, unlike most schools with a strong humanities department, it’s also excellent in STEM subjects. In fact…

What does modern wage labor have in common with chattel slavery? What’s different? While some like to refer to wage labor as “wage slavery” and call workers “wage-slaves,” others dismiss such figures of speech as misguided rhetoric and say wage labor has nothing in common with slavery. However this idea is misguided, and this paper will present not only the differences but also the similarities between wage labor and slavery so uncanny that it can be said that wage laborers are, in fact, slaves…

The failure of Reconstruction was caused by the sudden shift to give equal political representation for Africans Americans when the society prior was solely based upon White's domination. As a result, it created a feeling of threat to the position of superiority and eventually lead to an engagement of extreme violence from the whites. Heather Richardson’s simulation of a scenario revolving around tax money in Lydon’s The Rebirth of a Nation conceived an idea “that… poor workers run a mock trying…

Taking a comparative approach, Eric Foner examines Reconstruction in the southern states against the experience of Haiti, where a violent slave revolt was followed by the establishment of an undemocratic government and the imposition of a system of forced labor; the British Caribbean, where…

Over time and place, languages change often. Words and phrases evolve throughout generations and social groups. The word post first emerged from the Old English language, but with time the meaning has varied. Post shows up in the Bible, works of Shakespeare, and other writings. This word has also been used by Saint Augustine and appeared in the magazine US Weekly. Post emerges all over the world and in various contexts. Not only is there the present day definition, but also synonyms, antonyms,…

Despite the many accomplishments of the Freedmen’s Bureau on society and education in the south, the challenges the northerners faced hampered the equality that was hoped for. Eric Foner’s historical work, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, examines both the social context of the time period and the proposals to rebuild society. Writing on the shortcomings of the education system, he remarks, “Plagued by financial…

As slaves worked hard and cried out in pain, wealthy slave owners had the time of their lives living the “dream.” The book Uncle Tom's Cabin was an example of how slaves were treated. This caused one of the many fights between the North and the South. While the North was discouraged by the book and were disgusted how slaves were treated. The South was outraged and disagreed with the book and said slaves had a great life in the South. The Civil War was caused due to economic, political, and…

addition, he noted that in a country, which claimed civilization and freedom for all, men who were created in the image and likeness of God were being placed on the same level as brutes. The pretentious nature of white men in Virginia is confirmed by Eric Foner who argued, “shall we esteem men honest in their pretensions to piety and benevolence, who compel their help to labor on the Sabbath day or lose their situation?” (167). However, Taper was happy that he had fled to Canada, where he…

ships known as Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery which carried a total of 144 passengers. John Smith was the leader of the colony until he got “injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion in 1609, [which] forced [him] to return to England” (Foner 58). After his absence, the colony faced many more troubles. Tensions between the Native Indians and the settlers arose from absence of John Smith and conflict began in 1610. ___________________________ The establishment of Jamestown…

the fall of the Reconstruction era. The era, formerly sparked by President Abraham Lincoln during the ending of the Civil War, ended with President Rutherford B. Hayes’s call to withdraw northern federal troops from the South. According to Eric Foner, the author of Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, the Reconstruction Era was clearly a failure due to the racism of the white South. While the original goal of the Reconstruction was to aid and improve the South and,…