Pamphlets of Protest: An Anthology of Early African-American Protest Literature, 1790-1860 / Edition 1

by Richard Newman, Patrick Rael, Phillip Lapsansky

Overview

Between the Revolution and the Civil War, African-American writing became a prominent feature of both black protest culture and American public life. Although denied a political voice in national affairs, black authors produced a wide range of literature to project their views into the public sphere. Autobiographies and personal narratives told of slavery's horrors, newspapers railed against racism in its various forms, and poetry, novellas, reprinted sermons and speeches told tales of racial uplift and redemption. The editors examine the important and previously overlooked pamphleteering tradition and offer new insights into how and why the printed word became so important to black activists during this critical period. An introduction by the editors situates the pamphlets in their various social, economic and political contexts. This is the first book to capture the depth of black print culture before the Civil War by examining perhaps its most important form, the pamphlet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415924443
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/25/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard Newman is Assistant Professor of History at the Rochester Institute of Technology; Patrick Rael is Assistant Professor of History at Bowdoin College; and Phillip Lapsansky is an archivist at the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Introduction,1. Absalom Jones and Richard Allen,A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia (1794),2. Prince Hall,A Charge (1797),3. Daniel Coker,A Dialogue Between a Virginian and an African Minister (1810),4. James Forten,Series of Letters by a Man of Color (1813),5. Russell Parrott,An Oration on the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1814),6. Prince Saunders,An Address to the Pennsylvania Augustine Society (1818),7. Robert ALexander Young,Ethiopian Manifesto (1829),8. David Walker,Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829, 1830),9. William Hamilton,Address to the National Convention of 1834 (1834),10. Elizabeth Wicks,Address Delivered Before the African Female Benevolent Society of Troy (1834),11. Maria W. Stewart,Productions (1835),12. Robert Purvis,Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens, Threatened with Disenfranchisement, to the People of Pennsylvania (1837),13. David Ruggles,New York Committee of Vigilance for the Year 1837, together with Important Facts Relative to Their Proceedings (1837),14. Henry Highland Garnet,Address to the Slaves of America (1848),15. Proceedings of the National Convention of Colored People (1847),16. Report of the Proceedings of the Colored National Convention (1848),17. John W. Lewis,Essay on the Character and Condition of the African Race(1852),18. Mary Ann Shadd,A Plea for Emigration, or Notes of Canada West (1852),19. Frederick Douglass, Et Al. ,Address to the People of the United States (1853),20. Martin Delany,Political Destiny of the Colored Race, on the American Continent (1854),21. William Wells Brown,The History of the Haitian Revolution (1855),22. Mary Still,An Appeal to the Females of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (1857),23. Theodore Holly,A Vindication of the Capacity of the Negro for SElf-Government and Civilized Progress (1857),24. Alexander Crummel ,The English Language in Liberia (1861),25. T. Morris Chester,Negro Self-Respect and Pride of Race (1862),

Editorial Reviews

"The editors have provided a distinct service in assembling [the Pamphlets] and suggesting ways to explore their meanings..This useful collection may inspire a new generation..." — Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 21 No. 3
"
Finding 'freedom in print' when it could be found in few places, African American pamphleteers chronicled America in a way largely forgotten. through the twenty-five pamphlets reprinted here and an excelent introduction by the editors, Pamphlets of Protestexposes a wold too rarely seen. Ideal for students, scholars, and all those seeking a broader vision of 'freedon' in America." — Norrece T. Jones, Jr., author of,i.Slavery and Antislavery: Race and Freedom Struggles in the Making of America
"
This is a first-rate anthology of the pivitoal yet neglected tradition of early balck pamphlets. It provides both an illuminating cross-section of the documents themselves and a highly readable as well as insightful history of the black pamphlet tradition. An absolutely superb and engaging volume." — Waldo Martin, Professor of History, University of California Berkeley
"
This brillantly edited collection will be of invaluable assistance to students of Amreican social and intellectual history at every level. The editors have performed a valuable service by making these documents available in this convenient volume, while the introduction is a model of creativity, imagination, and intellecutal rigot." — Wilson J. Moses, Professor of History and Fellow in the Humanities, Pennsylvania State University
"
Spanning from the American Revolution through the Civil Wa, this volume brings together for the first time representative writings of the nation's most powerful and (too often)_most under-appreciated critics of slavery and white suppremacy. the editors supply such clear historical contexts for each of the documents, amd for the collection as a whole, that exerpts no less than beginners will find their encounters with this work to be truly illuminating. For students of African American history, and literature, PAMPHLETS OF PROTEST is simply is simply indispensable." — James Brewer Stewart, James Wallace Professor of History, Macalester College
"Antebellum African American pamphlet literature broadened the scope and autonomy of black people's responses to their unfree position in US society. The writings reflect a wide variety of themes and convey the ideas set forth by such figures as Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, David Walker, Robert Purvis, Alexander Crummell, Henry Highland Garnet, Maria H. Stewart, David Ruggles, and Mary Ann Shadd. There is insightful material on the role of black women, the underlying issue of racial equality, and on tactical debates as to how slavery was to be fought. Notable is the eloquence, born of a passion for freedom, of a number of these pamphleteers. No reader with any human sensibility can encounter the words of [these authors] without being moved... All in all, this collection is a valuable sourcebook for anyone interested in the leadership people of color provided in the struggle for their own freedom." — H. Shapiro, emeritus, University of Cincinnati, Choice
"All in all, this collection is a valuable sourcebook for anyone interested in the leadership people of color provided in the struggle for their own freedom." — Choice, September 2001

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