Joshua Glasgow’s Reviews > Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 > Status Update
Joshua Glasgow
is 43% done
Truthfully, I was preparing to start another book alongside this one, preferably fiction, because I’ve found this dry and (unsurprisingly) VERY depressing. However, in this last stretch, I began to be able to engage more with the “political” aspect—probably because the moral stance of Radical Republicans was being discussed. It feels easier to read/take now, so I don’t think I need a second book after all.
— Jun 04, 2026 11:26PM
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Joshua’s Previous Updates
Joshua Glasgow
is 57% done
The theme of Reconstruction, I’m gathering, is that even abolitionists did not think of Black people as fully human, and how quickly Republicans turned toward trying to win Democrat votes rather than holding them accountable for their ONGOING treason after the Civil War (and their history of HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES). Confiscation of their land was *the least* we could/ought to have done. 🤬
— Jun 08, 2026 12:03PM
Joshua Glasgow
is 31% done
I once wrote a poem with the line “Now I see the wisdom in a worldwide flood.” I kind of feel that way reading this book. Racism wasn’t defeated with slavery (slavery wasn’t actually defeated either). Because of that, there isn’t an alternate world where Reconstruction achieves everything it ought to have—“liberty and justice for all”. I still hope it’ll come, but time is running out on this planet.
— May 31, 2026 10:30PM
Joshua Glasgow
is 12% done
Good context about the political landscape in the years leading up to “Reconstruction”. It seems obvious once you say it, but there were Union loyalists in the South and, conversely, racist Democrats (what we now call Republicans) in the North. Not that Republicans weren’t also racist… just less vociferously so.
— May 10, 2026 03:05PM
Joshua Glasgow
is 8% done
This is definitely not going to be a fast read. Also, oof, it’s going to be a hard one given that the country is going through another Reconstruction backlash by racist whites at this very moment. Will we learn from past mistakes? Ever?
— May 07, 2026 11:29PM
