During the revolutionary age and in the early republic; when racial ideologies were evolving and slavery expanding; some northern blacks surprisingly came to identify very strongly with the American cause and to take pride in calling themselves American. In this intriguing study; Rita Roberts explores this phenomenon and offers an in-depth examination of the intellectual underpinnings of antebellum black activists. She shows how conversion to Christianity led a significant and influential population of northern blacks to view the developing American republic and their place in the new nation through the lens of evangelicalism. American identity; therefore; even the formation of an African ethnic community and later an African American identity; developed within the evangelical and republican ideals of the revolutionary age. Evangelical values; Roberts contends; exerted a strong influence on the strategies of northern black reformist activities; specifically abolition; anti-racism; and black community development. The activists and reformers' commitment to the United States and firm determination to make the country live up to its national principles hinged on their continued faith in the possibility of the collective transformation of all Americans. The people of the United States -- both black and white -- they believed; would become a new citizenry; distinct from any population in the world because of their commitment to the tenets of the Christian republican faith. Roberts explores the process by which a collective identity formed among northern free blacks and notes the ways in which ministers and other leaders established their African identity through an emphasis on shared oppression. She shows why; in spite of slavery's expansion in the 1820s and 1830s; northern blacks demonstrated more; not less; commitment to the nation. Roberts then examines the Christian influence on racial theories of some of the major abolitionist figures of the antebellum era; including Frederick Douglass; Martin Delany; and especially James McCune Smith; and reveals how activists' sense of their American identity waned with the intensity of American racism and the passage of laws that further protected slavery in the 1850s. But the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation; she explains; renewed hope that America would soon become a free and equal nation.Impeccably researched; Evangelicalism and the Politics of Reform in Northern Black Thought; 1776--1863 offers an innovative look at slavery; abolition; and African American history.
#301921 in Books Louisiana State University Press 2004-09-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x .90 x 5.90l; .96 #File Name: 0807130222320 pages
Review
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Excellent ServiceBy archaeopatThe book was exactly as advertised and arrived in good shape. It will inform my research on Galvanized Yankees in Confederate service.12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Love it!By Priscilla JaynesI never write reviews but this one I will write. This book is written about a forgotten part of our history and a part that one of my ancestors took part in. Being a southerner from northern Alabama; I had no idea until recently that i had a unionist ancestor. I have read the book twice to soak it up. It is full of easy to read and insightful analysis as well as facts and stories from the people who were there. Margaret Storey has taken the interviews from the Southern Claims Commission and woven them through the book with the well researched facts about the Unionist and the Civil War. I am writing a book on my family history and her book is now underlined from one end to the other for reference material. Even if you don't have an ancestor who was a Unionist this will still capture your attention and give you new insights into the war and the people. It certainly made me see that it was not a war of North against South but of Union against Confederacy. Thank you Ms. Storey for this book!
