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Civic Lab Book Discussion: The Second Founding

A timely discussion of "The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution."

We live in the America created by the three "Reconstruction Amendments" the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They all passed in the five years following the Civil War and are the amendments that outlawed slavery, delineated who got to be a citizen, and extended the right to vote to African American men.

In The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, historian Eric Foner takes us through the multiracial activism and Congressional negotiations that produced the amendments, then the century and a half that followed. The "Reconstruction Amendments" are part of every election, including the current one.

Find The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution in the library catalog.

This is a hybrid event with an option to participate on Zoom. Online participants will receive the Zoom link in their confirmation email. If you have questions about this event after registration has closed, please email the events team or call the library at 847-673-7774.

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