Eric Foner’s Voices of Freedom Chapter 17
Essay Question
- During the 1890s a number organizations arose to reform many of the social, economic, and political inequalities that had developed by that time. These included laborers—such as those that struck at Homestead, farmers that supported the Populists, and African Americans that were made second-class citizens by “Jim Crow” laws. These groups (and others) believed they were, according to Eric Foner, “denied economic independence and democratic self-government—long central to the popular understanding of freedom.” Write an essay that gives two examples from the primary sources in Voices of Freedom chapter 17 that highlights the views of two such organizations that developed in the 1890s. Your “how-conclusion” should compare or contrast the authors, audiences, and the purposes of your two chosen documents.