Eric Foner

Eric Foner, a member of The Nation’s editorial board and the DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, is the author, most recently, of The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.

BLM Sacramento

We Should Embrace the Ambiguity of the 14th Amendment We Should Embrace the Ambiguity of the 14th Amendment

A hundred and fifty years after its ratification, some of its promises remain unfulfilled—but one day it may still be interpreted anew.

Jul 9, 2018 / Eric Foner

Ira Berlin

Ira Berlin, 1941–2018 Ira Berlin, 1941–2018

Remembering a man who transformed scholarship on slavery and African-American culture.

Jun 8, 2018 / Eric Foner

The Frontiers of American Capitalism

The Frontiers of American Capitalism The Frontiers of American Capitalism

Noam Maggor’s new book captures how it took both sides of the American continent to revitalize the economy after the Civil War.

Jun 1, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

Underground Railroad And Slave Act

What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power

The actions of attorneys general in California and other states have their antecedents in the fight against that draconian law.

Feb 8, 2017 / Eric Foner

American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In

American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In

The Obama era reminded us all that popular movements play an essential role as catalysts for political action.

Dec 14, 2016 / Feature / Eric Foner

Hillary Clinton supporters

African-American Voters Have an Understandable Reason to Support Hillary Clinton African-American Voters Have an Understandable Reason to Support Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders has propelled economic inequality to center stage. But older African Americans have known about inequality for a long time.

Apr 25, 2016 / Eric Foner

John G. Roberts (left), Chief Justice and chief critic of the Voting Rights Act.

Voting Rights and the Second Redemption Voting Rights and the Second Redemption

Ari Berman’s Give Us the Ballot argues that democratic rights can never be taken for granted.

Dec 3, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

How Bernie Sanders Should Talk About Democratic Socialism

How Bernie Sanders Should Talk About Democratic Socialism How Bernie Sanders Should Talk About Democratic Socialism

Instead of looking to Europe, Sanders could evoke the rich heritage of American radicalism.

Oct 21, 2015 / Eric Foner

Birthright citizenship

Birthright Citizenship Is the Good Kind of American Exceptionalism Birthright Citizenship Is the Good Kind of American Exceptionalism

So why are the GOP candidates now fighting it?

Aug 27, 2015 / Eric Foner

Confederate Flag

The Historical Roots of Dylann Roof’s Racism The Historical Roots of Dylann Roof’s Racism

South Carolina’s warped public display of its white-supremacist history confronts South Carolinians, white and black, with a stark message about who rules the state.

Jun 25, 2015 / Eric Foner

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