The Antislavery Vanguard: New Essays on the Abolitionists

Description

The generally accepted historical viewpoint that the abolitionists were meddlesome fanatics is challenged here by a group of contemporary historians. In this re-examination of thee abolitionists, the harsh, one-sided judgment that they were men blind to their own motives, to the needs of the country, and even to the welfare of the slaves, and that their self-righteous fury did much to bring on a "needless war" is not completely reversed, but a more sympathetic evaluation of their role does emerge. The motives tactics and effects of the abolitionist movement are reviewed, and its place in the broader context of the antislavery movement is reconsidered. Originally published in 1965. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. Contents Introduction Part I: Background 1. Slavery and Sin: The Cultural Background 2. Who Was an Abolitionist? 3. Who Defends the Abolitionist? Part II : Individuals 4. Orange Scott: The Methodist Evangelist as Revolutionary 5. The Persistence of Wendell Phillips 6. Abolition's Different Drummer: Frederick Douglass Part III: The Abolitionists and the Negro 7. The Emancipation of the Negro Abolitionist 8. A Brief for Equality: The Abolitionist Reply to the Racist Myth, 1860-1865 9. “Iconoclasm Has Had Its Day”: Abolitionists and Freedmen in South Carolina Part IV: Side Perspectives 10. The Abolitionist Critique of the United States Constitution 11. Antislavery and Utopia 12. The Psychology of Commitment: The Constructive Role of Violence and Suffering for the Individual and for His Society Part V: Comparisons: A. Foreign B. Domestic A. Foreign 13. "A Sacred Animosity": Abolitionism in Canada 14. The British and American Abolitionists Compared B. Domestic 15. Ambiguities in the Antislavery Crusade of the Republican Party 16. The Northern Response to Slavery Part VI: Concluding 17. Abolitionists, Freedom-Riders, and the Tactics of Agitation Index