Means and Ends in American Abolitionism: Garrison and His Critics on Strategy and Tatics 1834-1850

by Aileen S. Kraditor

Overview

The debate among those who sought to abolish slavery in America was a crucial one in the history of the nation, for it raised a great many questions we are still debating. Reading Ms. Kraditor’s study of the abolitionists’ thinking on the goals, strategy, and tactics of their cause, the modern reader can hardly escape seeing parallels with present-day politics and protest movements. Ms. Kraditor focuses on arguments over the role of women in the Anti-Slavery Society, over religion, and over political action. She sees a struggle between "respectability" and radical action which continues to reverberate. "From first to last this lucid, important book challenges preconceptions. Obviously Professor Kraditor intends to provoke critical reexamination of many points she raises, and in this she is brilliantly successful.... Her book is a fruitful exploration into the history of a great movement."—Harold M. Hyman, Book World. "Original, perceptive, provocative."—American Historical Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780929587165
Publisher:	Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Publication date:	08/01/1989
Edition description:	1st Elephant paperback ed
Pages:	311
Product dimensions:	5.68(w) x 8.58(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Aileen S. Kraditor is Professor Emeritus of History at Boston University and a Fellow of the Society of American Historians. Her other books include The Ideas of Woman Suffrage Movement, 1890–1920; Up from the Pedestal: Selected Writings in the History of American Feminism; The Radical Persuasion, 1890–1917; and Jimmy Higgins: The Mental World of the American Rank-and-File Communist, 1930–1958.

What People are Saying About This

Don E. Fehrenbacher

"Superior to anything else published on the subject."
—American Historical Review

Editorial Reviews

Original, perceptive, provocative.

American Historical Review

From first to last this lucid, important book challenges preconceptions.... In this she is brilliantly successful.

Book World - Harold M. Hyman

A meticulous examination.

New Republic - Fawn Brodie

Superior to anything else published on the subject.

Don E. Fehrenbachern Historical Review

Superior to anything else published on the subject.

American Historical Review - Don E. Fehrenbacher

A meticulous examination.
— Fawn Brodie

New Republic

From first to last this lucid, important book challenges preconceptions.... In this she is brilliantly successful.
— Harold M. Hyman

Book World

"A meticulous examination."
—New Republic

Fawn Brodie

"From first to last this lucid, important book challenges preconceptions.... In this she is brilliantly successful."
—Book World

Harold M. Hyman