Despite provocation, Garrison was a proponent of nonresistance during this period, though he continued to advocate the emancipation of slaves. Set against a background of wide-ranging travels throughout the western U.S. and of family affairs back home in Boston, these letters make a distinctive contribution to antebellum life and thought.
This ambitious book examines the constitutional and legal doctrines of the antislavery movement from the eve of the American Revolution to the Wilmot Proviso and the 1848 national elections. Relating political activity to constitutional thought, William M. Wiecek surveys the antislavery societies, the ideas of their individual members, and the actions of those opposed to slavery and its expansion into the territories. He shows that the idea of constitutionalism has popular origins and was not the exclusive creation of a caste of lawyers. In offering a sophisticated examination of both sides of the argument about slavery, he not only discusses court cases and statutes, but also considers a broad range of "extrajudicial" thought—political speeches and pamphlets, legislative debates and arguments.
William Lloyd Garrison (1805-79) was one of the most militant and uncompromising abolitionists in the United States. This engrossing book presents six essays that reevaluate Garrison's legacy, his accomplishments, and his limitations.
The “compelling and lively” story of a pioneering abolitionist schoolteacher and her far-reaching influence on civil rights and American law (Richard S. Newman, author of Freedom’s Prophet). When Prudence Crandall, a Canterbury, Connecticut schoolteacher, accepted a black woman as a student, she unleashed a storm of controversy that catapulted her to national notoriety, and drew the attention of the most significant pro- and anti-slavery activists of the early nineteenth century. The Connecticut state legislature passed its infamous Black Law in an attempt to close down her school. Crandall was arrested and jailed—but her legal legacy had a lasting impact. Crandall v. State was the first full-throated civil rights case in U.S. history. The arguments by attorneys in Crandall played a role in two of the most fateful Supreme Court decisions, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education. In this book, author and lawyer Donald E. Williams Jr. marshals a wealth of detail concerning the life and work of Prudence Crandall, her unique role in the fight for civil rights, and her influence on legal arguments for equality in America that, in the words of Brown v. Board attorney Jack Greenberg, “serves to remind us once more about how close in time America is to the darkest days of our history.” “The book offers substantive and well-rounded portraits of abolitionists, colonizationists, and opponents of black equality―portraits that really dig beneath the surface to explain the individuals’ motivations, weaknesses, politics, and life paths.” ―The New England Quarterly “Taking readers from Connecticut schoolrooms to the highest court in the land, [Williams] gives us heroes and villains, triumph and tragedy, equity and injustice on the rough road to full freedom.” —Richard S. Newman, author of Freedom’s Prophet
In early 1840, abolitionists founded the Liberty Party as a political outlet for their antislavery beliefs. A mere eight years later, bolstered by the increasing slavery debate and growing sectional conflict, the party had grown to challenge the two mainstream political factions in many areas. In The Liberty Party, 1840–1848, Reinhard O. Johnson provides the first comprehensive history of this short-lived but important third party, detailing how it helped to bring the antislavery movement to the forefront of American politics and became the central institutional vehicle in the fight against slavery. As the major instrument of antislavery sentiment, the Liberty organization was more than a political party and included not only eligible voters but also disfranchised African Americans and women. Most party members held evangelical beliefs, and as Johnson relates, an intense religiosity permeated most of the group’s activities. He discusses the party’s founding and its national growth through the presidential election of 1844; its struggles to define itself amid serious internal disagreements over philosophy, strategy, and tactics in the ensuing years; and the reasons behind its decline and merger into the Free Soil coalition in 1848. Informative appendices include statewide results for all presidential and gubernatorial elections between 1840 and 1848, the Liberty Party’s 1844 platform, and short biographies of every Liberty member mentioned in the main text. Epic in scope and encyclopedic in detail, The Liberty Party, 1840–1848 is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in nineteenth-century American politics.
"Collected letters of newspaper editor, reformer, and key American abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison from 1822, at age 17, to his death in 1879... These volumes are an important source of historical and biographical documentation -- with contextual insight by the editors, offering extensive insight into the mind of this influential reformer. Topics seen within include race relations, abolition of slavery, the rights of women, the role of religion and religious institutions, and the relation of the state and its citizens."--
How children helped abolish slavery During the antebellum period, several abolitionist figures, including William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of the Liberator; Susan Paul, an African American primary school teacher; Henry Clarke Wright, a white reformer; and Frederick Douglass, the internationally renowned activist, consistently appealed to the sympathies of children against slavery. In 1835, Garrison proclaimed, “If . . . we desire to see our land delivered from the curse of PREJUDICE and SLAVERY, we must direct our efforts chiefly to the rising generation.” This rallying cry found a receptive audience and ignited action. Despite their limited scholarly exploration, children occupied a crucial position within the US abolition movement. Through a reexamination of archival materials including antislavery newspapers, correspondence, and autobiographies, Young Abolitionists is the first book to center children’s participation in the campaign to eradicate slavery in the United States. Michaël Roy uncovers how young advocates—Black and white alike—confidently delivered antislavery speeches within their schools, enrolled in juvenile antislavery societies, and contributed to the editorial process of antislavery newspapers. They aided fugitive slaves, attended antislavery fairs, and engaged in activities commemorating John Brown’s legacy. They even affixed their signatures to antislavery petitions, thus challenging the boundaries of their own citizenship. Abolitionists saw childhood as a force for social change. With the help of parents and teachers, children acted in concrete ways against slavery and made a meaningful contribution toward its demise. Young Abolitionists honors their contributions and reminds us that children can—and must—be included in the fight for a better world.
In American Slavery, Irish Freedom, Angela F. Murphy examines the interactions among abolitionists, Irish nationalists, and American citizens as the issues of slavery and abolition complicated the first transatlantic movement for Irish independence. For Irish Americans, the call of Old World loyalties, perceived duties of American citizenship, and regional devotions collided as the slavery issue intertwined with their efforts on behalf of their homeland. By looking at the makeup and rhetoric of the American repeal associations, the pressures on Irish Americans applied by both abolitionists and American nativists, and the domestic and transatlantic political situation that helped to define the repealers' response to antislavery appeals, Murphy investigates and explains why many Irish Americans did not support abolitionism.
Gene Lees is regarded by many as the best jazz essayist in America. The book that consolidated his reputation was "Singers and the Song", which appeared in 1987. Here, this classic work is released in an expanded edition with new essays.