Nothing But Freedom: Emancipation and Its Legacy

Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History

by Eric Foner

Nothing But Freedom probes the aftermath of emancipation in the south, the restructuring of society by which the former slaves gained, beyond their freedom, a new relation to the land they worked on, the men they worked for, and to the government they lived under.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, where he earned his B.A. and Ph.D. In his teaching and scholarship, Foner focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. His Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, won the Bancroft, Parkman, and Los Angeles Times Book prizes and remains the standard history of the period. His latest book published in 2010 is The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.

In 2006 Foner received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching at Columbia University. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Society of American Historians.

Reviews

[Mehrsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an excellent book, but it's a short history of Reconstruction and all of the information is in the longer volume (Reconstruction). Foner is a great writer and historian, but read the whole story of Reconstruction. There's just not enough here.

[Allison]

Place your bets on next week's title.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something about the style of this book made it a little hard to follow at times, especially in the first half. In addition, because I don't know a ton about the different movements in this time period--not as much as I probably should--it was sometimes hard to follow in later sections until context filled in certain pieces of information. However, in some ways, though I feel I learned slightly less than I might other have as a result, I also feel those elements helped to stretch me. Because I often felt a little disoriented (especially when talking about politics at the time), it really challenged me to look at my own pre-conceptions of how I would naturally fill in those gaps in unexpected ways. Though this wasn't quite the answer to the questions I had (I picked it up as research for a novel), it did help to expand my understanding of these time periods in different locations both in America and internationally, regionally and nationwide, which was helpful.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for HIST 339. Enjoyed the comparative approach. Reinforced how racial discourses and the land/labor relationship affected the outcome of emancipations across the globe. Simultaneously recognizes the significance of freedom and the limits of economic mobility. Foner demonstrates how freed people in Reconstruction had unusual political power.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

How the United States left its formerly enslaved people with literally nothing but freedom.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book was based on lectures that Foner gave prior to his writing THE BOOK of Reconstruction. There were many things I leaned about reading this, and I came away appreciating the the need to understand this subject, as a way of better understanding the more familiar American Civil War. This book is not merely a parochial view of American emancipation, but give the reader a world view of the emancipation movements surrounding African slaves in the 19th century. It also explains many of the reasons why emancipation did not equate with equality in any sense of the word. I am about 1/5th of the way through Foner's "Reconstruction" and I would suggest that those interested in reading that large book, start here. It gives the reader enough background knowledge to see clearly the author's arguments and patterns in discussing divisions, the meaning of rights and freedom, and the participation of those for whom emancipation meant the most, the freed.

I learned lots in the 110 pages of this work.

5 stars out of five.

[Michael Catalano · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to read comparative analysis of slavery and emancipation in the Western Hemisphere. Foner selected excellent case studies to detail the unique journeys to freedom for blacks in the New World. Worthwhile read, especially due to the brevity yet in depth analysis.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

How emancipation didn't mean freedom, a comparative study of the Americas from an esteemed Marxist historian.

[X · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative read, and an absolute must for those misguided cats who think the Civil War evened the playing field.

[Jim Swike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read about emanicipation and what happened after.

[NELS · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I'm looking for more of is an account of the accomplishments and examples of what was won during radical reconstruction. Otherwise an important contribution to the history of this period

[Tonja · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extreme Marxist view of Reconstruction, very dated interpretation. Short book but it read like it would never end.