The Abolitionist Imagination / / Andrew Delbanco, Wilfred M McClay, Darryl Pinckney, Manisha Sinha, John Stauffer.
The abolitionists of the mid-nineteenth century have long been painted in extremes--vilified as reckless zealots who provoked the catastrophic bloodletting of the Civil War, or praised as daring and courageous reformers who hastened the end of slavery. But Andrew Delbanco sees abolitionists in a dif...
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Superior document: | Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter E-BOOK GESAMTPAKET / COMPLETE PACKAGE 2012 |
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Place / Publishing House: | Cambridge, MA : : Harvard University Press, , [2012] ©2012 |
Udgivelsesår: | 2012 |
Sprog: | English |
Serier: | The Alexis de Tocqueville Lectures on American Politics
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Fysisk beskrivelse: | 1 online resource |
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Other title: | Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- 1. THE ABOLITIONIST IMAGINATION / 2. FIGHTING THE DEVIL WITH HIS OWN FIRE / 3. DID THE ABOLITIONISTS CAUSE THE CIVIL WAR? / 4. THE INVISIBILITY OF BLACK ABOLITIONISTS / 5. ABOLITION AS MASTER CONCEPT / 6. THE PRESENCE OF THE PAST / Notes -- About the Authors -- Index |
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Summary: | The abolitionists of the mid-nineteenth century have long been painted in extremes--vilified as reckless zealots who provoked the catastrophic bloodletting of the Civil War, or praised as daring and courageous reformers who hastened the end of slavery. But Andrew Delbanco sees abolitionists in a different light, as the embodiment of a driving force in American history: the recurrent impulse of an adamant minority to rid the world of outrageous evil.Delbanco imparts to the reader a sense of what it meant to be a thoughtful citizen in nineteenth-century America, appalled by slavery yet aware of the fragility of the republic and the high cost of radical action. In this light, we can better understand why the fiery vision of the ";abolitionist imagination"; alarmed such contemporary witnesses as Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne even as they sympathized with the cause. The story of the abolitionists thus becomes both a stirring tale of moral fervor and a cautionary tale of ideological certitude. And it raises the question of when the demand for purifying action is cogent and honorable, and when it is fanatic and irresponsible. Delbanco's work is placed in conversation with responses from literary scholars and historians. These provocative essays bring the past into urgent dialogue with the present, dissecting the power and legacies of a determined movement to bring America's reality into conformity with American ideals. |
Format: | Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. |
ISBN: | 9780674064904 9783110288995 9783110293715 9783110288971 9783110374889 9783110374919 9783110442205 9783110459517 9783110662566 |
DOI: | 10.4159/harvard.9780674064904 |
Adgang: | restricted access |
Hierarchical level: | Monograph |
Statement of Responsibility: | Andrew Delbanco, Wilfred M McClay, Darryl Pinckney, Manisha Sinha, John Stauffer. |