Reviewed by Adam Sanchez
Review Source: Zinn Education Project
Book Author: Tonya Bolden
Tanya Bolden’s Cause: Reconstruction America, 1863-1877 is one of the few non-fiction texts on Reconstruction aimed at young readers. It is a strong alternative to the textbook treatment of the era. Like many textbooks, Cause focuses mainly on the battles between President Andrew Johnson and Congress, and the white supremacist backlash against civil rights in the South. However, Bolden’s book is much more comprehensive and touches on people’s history themes, moments, and figures that most textbooks ignore: Black landownership in the Sea Islands, the potential for land reform in Congress, William Whipper and Charlotte Rollins’ efforts in South Carolina for women’s rights, the debates between abolitionists and feminists at the end of the war, the National Labor Union, Isaac Myers and the fight for an interracial labor movement. Continue reading.
Cause by Tonya Bolden
Published by Random House Children's Books on January 7th 2014
Genres: African American, Racism, Reconstruction
Pages: 144
Reading Level: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
ISBN: 9780307792884
Review Source: Zinn Education Project
Buy at Powell's Books
Also by this author: How to Build a Museum, Crossing Ebenezer Creek, We Are Not Yet Equal
After the destruction of the Civil War, the United States faced the immense challenge of rebuilding a ravaged South and incorporating millions of freed slaves into the life of the nation. On April 11, 1865, President Lincoln introduced his plan for reconstruction, warning that the coming years would be “fraught with great difficulty.” Three days later he was assassinated. The years to come witnessed a time of complex and controversial change.
From the Hardcover edition.
Leave a Reply