Voices of Freedom is the only reader with a thematic focus on American freedom. The organization of this popular, compact, and accessible primary source collection mirrors the best-selling Give Me Liberty! survey texts. The Eighth Edition features NEW selections that highlight women's voices throughout American history with a wide variety of perspectives. Much more affordable than other readers of its kind, Voices of Freedom is an exceptional value in print and ebook formats. Now, it is easier than ever to use alongside the main textbook right in your learning management system with a NEW Give Me Liberty! PLUS bundle purchase option. Highlights of this edition's new content: 21 new primary source selections with a focus on women's history. NEW Give Me Liberty! PLUS, an LMS-friendly courseware bundle that makes it easier than ever to assign the Voices of Freedom companion reader with Give Me Liberty!

The Declaration of Independence announced equality as an American ideal, but it took the Civil War and the subsequent adoption of three constitutional amendments to establish that ideal as American law. The Reconstruction amendments abolished slavery, guaranteed all persons due process and equal protection of the law, and equipped black men with the right to vote. They established the principle of birthright citizenship and guaranteed the privileges and immunities of all citizens. The federal government, not the states, was charged with enforcement, reversing the priority of the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In grafting the principle of equality onto the Constitution, these revolutionary changes marked the second founding of the United States. Eric Foner's compact, insightful history traces the arc of these pivotal amendments from their dramatic origins in pre-Civil War mass meetings of African-American "colored citizens" and in Republican party politics to their virtual nullification in the late nineteenth century. A series of momentous decisions by the Supreme Court narrowed the rights guaranteed in the amendments, while the state actively undermined them. The Jim Crow system was the result. Again today there are serious political challenges to birthright citizenship, voting rights, due process, and equal protection of the law. Like all great works of history, this one informs our understanding of the present as well as the past: knowledge and vigilance are always necessary to secure our basic rights. --