Free Black Political Activists in the Antebellum United States: An Annotated Bibliography

October 10th, 2006

DeBoer, Clara Merritt. Be Jubilant My Feet: African American Abolitionists in the American Missionary Association 1839-1861. New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1994.

Emphasizes the role of religion in abolitionism. Uses AMA documents as a major source. First half of a published dissertation.

Field, Phyllis F. The Politics of Race in New York: The Struggle for Black Suffrage in the Civil War Era. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982.

Views popular attitudes as the main variable in the struggle for black suffrage. Uses referendum results as a major source.

Fishman, George. The African American Struggle for Freedom and Equality: The Development of a People's Identity, New Jersey, 1624 – 1850. New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1997.

Argues all the gains African-Americans in New Jersey made in terms of equality during this period were the result of their own popular struggles against oppression. Discusses the development of African-American solidarity and “peoplehood” (group identity). Views racism as a byproduct of capitalism. Takes a Marxist or Marxist-influenced approach, viewing wage labor as exploitation and emphasizing the role of “social class relations rooted in production” (p. xx). Sources include quantitative evidence based on the census and runaway advertisements, as well as numerous primary sources from a variety of perspectives.

Horton, James Oliver and Horton, Lois E. Black Bostonians: Family Life and Community Struggle in the Antebellum North. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1999.

The original version of this book was published in 1979. It is intended more as a contribution to debates over the black family than activism, but overlaps with this topic. It tested theories about the impact of slavery on black urban poverty and black families (such as the Moynihan report) by looking at free blacks in the antebellum North. It claims not only were two family parents a strong institution among black Bostonians but they also formed the base from which political activism against slavery and for civil rights was built on. An important work on northern blacks.

Horton, James Oliver and Horton, Lois E. In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Examines the role of class, color and gender within free black communities and looks at their overall formation and function. Argues communities were “the foundation for political action” (p xi). Views the “integrationist vs black nationalist” model as a false dichotomy.

Pease, Jane and Pease, William. They Would Be Free: Black's Search for Freedom, 1830-1861. New York: Atheneum, 1974.

Analyzes the goals and beliefs of northern blacks. Views black activists, mainly their participation in the abolitionist movement, as a failure. Discusses divisions between white & black abolitionists, and divisions among black activists.

Quarles, Benjamin. Black Abolitionists. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.

A classic book on the topic. Examines the different roles white and black abolitionists played in the movement. Argues black abolitionists played a key role and were largely effective, with some exceptions.

Reed, Harry. Platform for Change: The Foundations of the Northern Free Black Community, 1775-1865. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994.

Focuses on blacks in Boston, New York & Philadelphia and claims these three cities are representative of national trends in the north. Attempts to “articulate the beginnings of community consciousness among norther free blacks” (p. 1). Argues free black activists were effective and were not completely powerless. Also argues that black activism was not solely a reaction against racism.

Tate, Gayle T. Unknown Tongues: Black Women's Political Activism in the Antebellum Era. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2003.

Discusses resistance by both slave women and free black women, and the connection between them. The market substantially affected the position of both slave and free women. Enslaved women used the rhetoric and protest provided by free black women for their own resistance, while free black women used slave women's resistance to broaden the scope of abolitionism. Sources include contemporary editorials and articles by blacks, slave narratives, the census, documents from abolitionist organizations and a large number of secondary sources.

Yellin, Jean Fagan and Van Horne, John C., eds. The Abolitionist Sisterhood: Women's Political Culture in Antebellum America. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994.

This is a collection of articles on female abolitionists. The middle section (“Part II”) contains a section on black women. It includes articles on black literary societies in the abolitionist movement, black female activists in Philadelphia, New York & Boston, and an article on Sojourner Truth.

Young, R.J. Antebellum Black Activists: Race, Gender, and Self. New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1996.

Young's argument revolves around free black activist's self-identification. Gender, including concepts of manhood, played a major role. He argues that most black activists came from the middle class and adopted values from the white middle class. Most blacks, including most free blacks, did not come from the middle class and did not share the same values, and the resulting class conflict made it harder for activists to develop a mass following and achieve their goals. Criticizes the “integrationist vs nationalist” dichotomy. Its main sources include newspapers and letters (including many writings by free blacks) as well as secondary sources and slave autobiographies.