A historian’s guide to understanding Reconstruction and the lessons it offers for navigating our own fraught political moment

In the wake of a shocking presidential election, historian Kellie Carter Jackson came to a simple but powerful realization: We have stood at a similar crossroads before, in the years following the Civil War, the era of Reconstruction. Would democracy extend to all Americans? Or would white supremacy prevail?

In We’ve Been Here Before, Carter Jackson skillfully transforms history into a political guidebook. Throughout Reconstruction, every political crisis—from the pardon of Confederate President Jefferson Davis to the rise of the KKK—sparked resistance. From this tumultuous history, there are lessons to be learned: the importance of being a good neighbor, the power of electoral politics, and how to survive in a country that meets progress with violence and bigotry.

Striking and sobering, We’ve Been Here Before is a road map for enduring our current political storm.

We've Been Here Before

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