Reconstruction and Its Afterlife, Pt. 1

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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Manisha Sinha about Reconstruction and the interconnectedness of social movements between the beginning of the Civil War in 1860 and the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The interview is split into two parts. Part two will be released in two weeks. You can now click on the “Send us a Text Message” link at the top of the episode description to share your thoughts on the episode. This episode's prompt: Do you think the history presented by Manisha is relevant to current political and social struggles in the U.S.? If so, how?

Dr. Manisha Sinha is a history professor at the University of Connecticut. She is the author and co-author of several books, including The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (2016) and The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920, published this year. In part one, Manisha explains why it’s important to expand the chronology of Reconstruction to include labor struggles in the North, wars against Indigenous people, and the struggle for female suffrage; how Radical Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens interpreted the Constitution, fought for the Reconstruct Ammenendemts, and grappled with President Johnson; and how workers in the South and North struggled for rights during the Gilded Age.

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