The Story of American Freedom [Paperback]

Eric Foner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0393319628 | ISBN-13: 978-0393319620

"Eric Foner's brilliant, important book . . . shows how, having invoked liberty to justify their independence in 1776, Americans have fought ever since over what that freedom means and who may enjoy its blessings."—Los Angeles Times Book Review

From the Revolution to our own time, freedom has been America's strongest cultural bond and its most perilous fault line, a birthright for some Americans and a cruel mockery for others. Eric Foner takes freedom not as a timeless truth but as a value whose meaning and scope have been contested throughout American history. His sweeping narrative shows freedom to have been shaped not only in congressional debates and political treatises but also on plantations and picket lines, in parlors and bedrooms. His characters include the well-known-Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan-and the anonymous-former slaves, union organizers, freedom riders, and women's rights advocates. In the end he gives us a stirring history of America itself focused on its animating impulse: freedom. "Wonderfully readable . . . an excellent choice for serious readers."—New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Freedom, Eric Foner writes, is "the oldest of clichés and the most modern of aspirations." But what does it mean to be free? For the people of the United States, the concept of "freedom"--and its counterpart, "liberty"--have had widely differing meanings over the centuries. The Story of American Freedom, therefore, "is not a mythic saga with a predetermined beginning and conclusion, but an open-ended history of accomplishment and failure, a record of a people forever contending about the crucial ideas of their political culture."

Foner begins with the colonial era, when the Puritans believed that liberty was rooted in voluntary submission to God and civil authorities, and consisted only in the right to do good. John Locke, too, would argue that liberty did not consist of the lack of restraint, but of "a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power." Foner reveals the ideological conflicts that lay at the heart of the American Revolution and the Civil War, the shifts in thought about what freedom is and to whom it should apply. Adeptly charting the major trends of 20th-century American politics--including the invocation of freedom as a call to arms in both world wars--Foner concludes by contrasting the two prevalent movements of the 1990s: the liberal articulation of freedom, grounded in Johnson's Great Society and the rhetoric of the New Left, as the provision of civil rights and economic opportunity for all citizens, and the conservative vision, perhaps most fully realized during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, of a free-market economy and decentralized political power. The Story of American Freedom is a sweeping synthesis, delivered in clearheaded language that makes the ongoing nature of the American dream accessible to all readers. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Distinguished Columbia historian Foner frames American history as a continuing fight for freedom.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393319628
• ISBN-13: 978-0393319620
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Civil Rights & Liberties

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A complex analysis of the central idea of American history June 15, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I first became acquainted with Eric Foner through his masterful "Reconstruction," a book of history that illuminated modern problems and prospects through a detailed look at their historical roots perhaps better than any other I have read. Taken in and of itself I have not found another book on the Reconstruction period that is as good, or as deep, or as well written. "Freedom" seems to be a different kind of work, an intellectual history that tested my abilities in a way that "factual" history does not. Even as he describes the shifts, subtle and overt, that have either dragged, or been dragged, by concepts of freedom, he never seems to lose the sense of the impelling force of that concept. This is a great book for students of history, and of America, since it is a superb inquiry into our commitment to an ideal so powerful that it has been a driving force throughout the world in this latter half of the century. It is also a great book for those interested in political life generally. It entertains and challenges, and teaches even amateurs like me.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-done, comparative study of freedom March 16, 2000

By Joe Brown

Format:Hardcover

The idea of freedom in American history seems to have gone through a series of cycles and metamorphic changes to suit a variety of social, political, and economic changes. These changes constitute a history in and of itself which goes far to define what freedom means to America's diverse population. Eric Foner's book "The Story of American Freedom" seeks to narrate that interesting history. Foner basically breaks down the meaning of freedom into two distinct spheres. Freedom of the individual to do as he/she pleases without government interference and, second, freedom that is supported by government intervention. Foner makes interesting points when he reveals that our nation's idea of freedom started out as socially narrow and then expanded to include other races and women as well. Economically, as demonstrated during the Gilded Age, freedom was to be enjoyed by those who fit the Darwinian ideal and denied to those who fell short of it. During the Progressive era, Foner illustrates that freedom was defined as government regulations on labor, food safety, and child labor laws meant to ensure the right to a better lifestyle. Throughout the book, Foner brilliantly narrates how the idea of freedom was tailored for political purposes for both the Left and the Right. I really enjoyed this book. Both a critique and a narrative of the idea of freedom, Foner's book provides a comprehensive overview of this all-pervasive concept. While I found it to be a little biased in its treatement of the 1960's (which prevents a 5-star rating) I nevertheless found it to be a well organized and well documented book (the pages of footnotes being very detailed). A must for an understanding of such an over-generalized concept.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable history is not an oxymoron! October 25, 1998

By "duprestars"

Format:Hardcover

Ever wonder why so many people disagree about what freedom means? Foner explains that freedom means social freedom to some, freedom from governmental interference to many, and economic freedom to yet others. Better yet he explains where these sometimes complementary and sometimes conflicting ideas come from in the American experience. Very readable, Foner is gifted and secure enough to write a scholarly book that can be enjoyed by those of us who are not history professors.