If you are going to abolish slavery, that opens up all these other questions: what system of labor is going to replace slave labor? What system of race relations is going to replace the race relations of slavery? Who is… — Eric Foner Copy Share Image
“Successful teaching rests both on a genuine and selfless concern for students and on the ability to convey to them a love of history.” — Eric Foner Copy Share
A man working for wages his whole life is not really free. That is why Jefferson said, you have to own land. Southerners said,… — Eric Foner Copy Share
There are those who view the abolitionists as just maniacs, apolitical fanatics who helped to cause the war, and Lincoln is the model of… — Eric Foner Copy Share
“New laws also redefined in the interest of the planter the terms of credit and the right to property—the essence of economic power in… — Eric Foner Copy Share
Colonization was the idea that once slavery ended African-Americans should be encouraged - or required, in some people's view - required to leave the… — Eric Foner Copy Share
I don't [even] know the number of books on Abraham Lincoln. Ten thousand, twelve thousand? I have seen various numbers. It seems like every… — Eric Foner Copy Share
“Ironically, as Illinois Sen. Richard Yates pointed out, opponents of expansionism employed arguments extremely reminiscent of proslavery ideology, while its supporters upheld the principle… — Eric Foner Copy Share
Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes blacks should have this natural right to improve… — Eric Foner Copy Share
“It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his spare time visiting wounded soldiers in Union Army hospitals. I've spent… — Eric Foner Copy Share
“Republicans, white and black, heaped scorn upon “respectables” who did not participate directly in the violence but “could not stop their sons from murdering… — Eric Foner Copy Share
Look, Mrs. McGillicuddy, it's not my fault your son jumped out a dorm room window on Christmas eve. I've written over fifty books as… — Eric Foner Copy Share
Who owns history? Everyone and no one--which is why the study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery. — Eric Foner Copy Share
For historians, hindsight can be a treacherous ally. Enabling us to trace the hidden patterns of past events, it beguiles us with the mirage… — Eric Foner Copy Share
In a democratic society, as Max Weber said, what is possible is only possible because some people have demanded the impossible. The abolitionists helped… — Eric Foner Copy Share
I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he held the same view throughout… — Eric Foner Copy Share
