Mary Wills
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620788
- eISBN:
- 9781789629668
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620788.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
After Britain’s Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, a squadron of Royal Navy vessels was sent to the West Coast of Africa tasked with suppressing the thriving transatlantic slave trade. Drawing ...
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After Britain’s Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, a squadron of Royal Navy vessels was sent to the West Coast of Africa tasked with suppressing the thriving transatlantic slave trade. Drawing on previously unpublished papers found in private collections and various archives in the UK and abroad, this book examines the personal and cultural experiences of the naval officers at the frontline of Britain’s anti-slavery campaign in West Africa. It explores their unique roles in this 60-year operation: at sea, boarding slave ships bound for the Americas and ‘liberating’ captive Africans; on shore, as Britain resolved to ‘improve’ West African societies; and in the metropolitan debates around slavery and abolitionism in Britain. Their personal narratives are revealing of everyday concerns of health, rewards and strategy, to more profound questions of national honour, cultural encounters, responsibility for the lives of others in the most distressing of circumstances, and the true meaning of ‘freedom’ for formerly enslaved African peoples. British anti-slavery efforts and imperial agendas were tightly bound in the nineteenth century, inseparable from ideas of national identity. This is a book about individuals tasked with extraordinary service, military men who also worked as guardians, negotiators, and envoys of abolition.Less
After Britain’s Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, a squadron of Royal Navy vessels was sent to the West Coast of Africa tasked with suppressing the thriving transatlantic slave trade. Drawing on previously unpublished papers found in private collections and various archives in the UK and abroad, this book examines the personal and cultural experiences of the naval officers at the frontline of Britain’s anti-slavery campaign in West Africa. It explores their unique roles in this 60-year operation: at sea, boarding slave ships bound for the Americas and ‘liberating’ captive Africans; on shore, as Britain resolved to ‘improve’ West African societies; and in the metropolitan debates around slavery and abolitionism in Britain. Their personal narratives are revealing of everyday concerns of health, rewards and strategy, to more profound questions of national honour, cultural encounters, responsibility for the lives of others in the most distressing of circumstances, and the true meaning of ‘freedom’ for formerly enslaved African peoples. British anti-slavery efforts and imperial agendas were tightly bound in the nineteenth century, inseparable from ideas of national identity. This is a book about individuals tasked with extraordinary service, military men who also worked as guardians, negotiators, and envoys of abolition.
Daniel Ritchie
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941282
- eISBN:
- 9781789629149
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941282.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial, but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the ...
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This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial, but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the evangelical revival of 1859, but this book demonstrates that there was much more to Nelson’s career. Nelson started out as a protégé of Henry Cooke and as an exemplary young evangelical minister. Upon aligning himself with the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society and joining forces with American abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, Nelson emerged as a powerful voice against compromise with slaveholders. One of the central objectives of this book is to show that anti-slavery, especially his involvement with the ‘Send Back the Money’ controversy in the Free Church of Scotland and the debate over fellowship with slaveholders at the Evangelical Alliance, was crucially important to the development of Nelson into one of Irish Presbyterianism’s most controversial figures. His later opposition to the 1859 Revival has often been understood as being indicative of Nelson’s opposition to evangelicalism. This book argues that such a conclusion is mistaken and that Nelson opposed the Revival as a Presbyterian evangelical. His later involvement with the Land League and the Irish Home Rule movement, including his tenure as the Member of Parliament for County Mayo, could be easily dismissed as an entirely discreditable affair. While avoiding romantic nostalgia in relation to Nelson’s nationalism, this book argues that Nelson’s basis for advocating Home Rule was not as peculiar as it might first appear.Less
This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial, but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the evangelical revival of 1859, but this book demonstrates that there was much more to Nelson’s career. Nelson started out as a protégé of Henry Cooke and as an exemplary young evangelical minister. Upon aligning himself with the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society and joining forces with American abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, Nelson emerged as a powerful voice against compromise with slaveholders. One of the central objectives of this book is to show that anti-slavery, especially his involvement with the ‘Send Back the Money’ controversy in the Free Church of Scotland and the debate over fellowship with slaveholders at the Evangelical Alliance, was crucially important to the development of Nelson into one of Irish Presbyterianism’s most controversial figures. His later opposition to the 1859 Revival has often been understood as being indicative of Nelson’s opposition to evangelicalism. This book argues that such a conclusion is mistaken and that Nelson opposed the Revival as a Presbyterian evangelical. His later involvement with the Land League and the Irish Home Rule movement, including his tenure as the Member of Parliament for County Mayo, could be easily dismissed as an entirely discreditable affair. While avoiding romantic nostalgia in relation to Nelson’s nationalism, this book argues that Nelson’s basis for advocating Home Rule was not as peculiar as it might first appear.
Jessica M. Parr
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781628461985
- eISBN:
- 9781626744998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781628461985.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Following Whitefield’s death and entombment (and some would say enshrinement) in the Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, MA, his followers worked quickly to preserve his memory. They ...
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Following Whitefield’s death and entombment (and some would say enshrinement) in the Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, MA, his followers worked quickly to preserve his memory. They republished many of his writings and sermons. They printed memoirs. They perpetuated a legacy that continued to defy denominational and geographic boundaries. His tomb became a sight of pilgrimage, including ritualized handling of his skull and removal of trophies from his coffin. In many ways, Whitefield became more powerful as a symbol in death than he was in life.Less
Following Whitefield’s death and entombment (and some would say enshrinement) in the Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, MA, his followers worked quickly to preserve his memory. They republished many of his writings and sermons. They printed memoirs. They perpetuated a legacy that continued to defy denominational and geographic boundaries. His tomb became a sight of pilgrimage, including ritualized handling of his skull and removal of trophies from his coffin. In many ways, Whitefield became more powerful as a symbol in death than he was in life.
Padraic X. Scanlan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300217445
- eISBN:
- 9780300231526
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300217445.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African History
Freedom’s Debtors is a history of the British movement to abolish the slave trade, told through the lens of the history of early colonial Sierra Leone. After the abolition of the British slave trade ...
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Freedom’s Debtors is a history of the British movement to abolish the slave trade, told through the lens of the history of early colonial Sierra Leone. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, Sierra Leone became the judicial, military, and economic capital of British efforts to interdict slave ships. British antislavery, widely seen as a great sacrifice of economic and political capital on the altar of humanitarianism, was in fact profitable, militarily useful, and crucial to the expansion of British power in West Africa. The colony was closely connected to the elite leaders of the abolitionist movement in Britain, and became closely identified with their business interests. This history of the abolition of the British slave trade in Sierra Leone offers insight into how antislavery policies were used to justify colonialism and reframes a moment considered a watershed in British public morality as the beginning of morally ambiguous and exploitative colonial history. From Sierra Leone, it is easier to see British antislavery as it really was: acquisitive, devoted to coercive and gradual schemes for emancipation, militarised, and shot through with imperial ambitions.Less
Freedom’s Debtors is a history of the British movement to abolish the slave trade, told through the lens of the history of early colonial Sierra Leone. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, Sierra Leone became the judicial, military, and economic capital of British efforts to interdict slave ships. British antislavery, widely seen as a great sacrifice of economic and political capital on the altar of humanitarianism, was in fact profitable, militarily useful, and crucial to the expansion of British power in West Africa. The colony was closely connected to the elite leaders of the abolitionist movement in Britain, and became closely identified with their business interests. This history of the abolition of the British slave trade in Sierra Leone offers insight into how antislavery policies were used to justify colonialism and reframes a moment considered a watershed in British public morality as the beginning of morally ambiguous and exploitative colonial history. From Sierra Leone, it is easier to see British antislavery as it really was: acquisitive, devoted to coercive and gradual schemes for emancipation, militarised, and shot through with imperial ambitions.
Jeffrey D. Needell
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781503609020
- eISBN:
- 9781503611030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503609020.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
The Introduction lays out the past and recent historiography to explain the necessity for this book, emphasizing its focus on parliamentary history (poorly understood and generally ignored over the ...
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The Introduction lays out the past and recent historiography to explain the necessity for this book, emphasizing its focus on parliamentary history (poorly understood and generally ignored over the past fifty years), Afro-Brazilian mobilization (here restored to its primacy in the origins and constitution of the movement), and Rio de Janeiro (cockpit of imperial politics). It also emphasizes the importance of understanding the movement’s history chronologically, as something born of the interactions between itself and parliament, the monarch, and the Afro-Brazilian middle class and masses in Rio over time. Finally, it provides a brief account of the contents of each chapterLess
The Introduction lays out the past and recent historiography to explain the necessity for this book, emphasizing its focus on parliamentary history (poorly understood and generally ignored over the past fifty years), Afro-Brazilian mobilization (here restored to its primacy in the origins and constitution of the movement), and Rio de Janeiro (cockpit of imperial politics). It also emphasizes the importance of understanding the movement’s history chronologically, as something born of the interactions between itself and parliament, the monarch, and the Afro-Brazilian middle class and masses in Rio over time. Finally, it provides a brief account of the contents of each chapter
Paul Cheshire
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941206
- eISBN:
- 9781789629439
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941206.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter examines Gilbert’s views about Africa and Africans in the context of his background as the son of an Antiguan slave plantation owner. Gilbert expressed publicly his opposition to the ...
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This chapter examines Gilbert’s views about Africa and Africans in the context of his background as the son of an Antiguan slave plantation owner. Gilbert expressed publicly his opposition to the slave trade in 1790, but in The Hurricane this opposition is less evident: the evils of the slave trade are just one symptom of a universal cosmic imbalance. Gilbert’s Methodist father, Nathaniel Gilbert, had avowed the evils of slavery and praised the Africans’ higher spiritual capacity, but he nevertheless retained ownership. As John Wesley’s abolitionist views only became public around the time of Nathaniel’s death in 1774, it was possible for Nathaniel, as a benevolent slave-owner, to be considered a good Methodist. Gilbert came of age at a time when these moral values shifted.Less
This chapter examines Gilbert’s views about Africa and Africans in the context of his background as the son of an Antiguan slave plantation owner. Gilbert expressed publicly his opposition to the slave trade in 1790, but in The Hurricane this opposition is less evident: the evils of the slave trade are just one symptom of a universal cosmic imbalance. Gilbert’s Methodist father, Nathaniel Gilbert, had avowed the evils of slavery and praised the Africans’ higher spiritual capacity, but he nevertheless retained ownership. As John Wesley’s abolitionist views only became public around the time of Nathaniel’s death in 1774, it was possible for Nathaniel, as a benevolent slave-owner, to be considered a good Methodist. Gilbert came of age at a time when these moral values shifted.
D. H. Dilbeck
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469636184
- eISBN:
- 9781469636191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636184.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter describes the most important intellectual development in Douglass’s adult life prior to the Civil War—his evolving views on the U.S. Constitution and the role of violence in the ...
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This chapter describes the most important intellectual development in Douglass’s adult life prior to the Civil War—his evolving views on the U.S. Constitution and the role of violence in the antislavery struggle. The chapter explains how Douglass came to believe that the Constitution was antislavery, not proslavery as he previously believed. The chapter also explains Douglass’s complicated views on the sometimes-appropriate role of violence in liberating slaves. For both topics, the chapter shows how the core convictions of Douglass’s faith shaped his views.Less
This chapter describes the most important intellectual development in Douglass’s adult life prior to the Civil War—his evolving views on the U.S. Constitution and the role of violence in the antislavery struggle. The chapter explains how Douglass came to believe that the Constitution was antislavery, not proslavery as he previously believed. The chapter also explains Douglass’s complicated views on the sometimes-appropriate role of violence in liberating slaves. For both topics, the chapter shows how the core convictions of Douglass’s faith shaped his views.
Jennet Kirkpatrick
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469635392
- eISBN:
- 9781469635408
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469635392.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter explores the work of Henry David Thoreau, a figure who celebrates the benefits of extracting oneself from political life. It argues that Thoreau’s writings about exit reveal the ...
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This chapter explores the work of Henry David Thoreau, a figure who celebrates the benefits of extracting oneself from political life. It argues that Thoreau’s writings about exit reveal the possibility of a expressive exit, that is, a departure that is political in and of itself. For Thoreau, leaving a political community had the potential to illuminate the iniquitous, evil political agreements and institutions at its core. Thoreau was centrally concerned with the American institution of slavery; therefore, he frequently linked leaving with abolitionism in his writings. But his writings provide a more general understanding of the potentially disruptive effects of leaving in an expressive and ostentatious way, one that draws public attention to the exit itself and its connection with moral injustice.Less
This chapter explores the work of Henry David Thoreau, a figure who celebrates the benefits of extracting oneself from political life. It argues that Thoreau’s writings about exit reveal the possibility of a expressive exit, that is, a departure that is political in and of itself. For Thoreau, leaving a political community had the potential to illuminate the iniquitous, evil political agreements and institutions at its core. Thoreau was centrally concerned with the American institution of slavery; therefore, he frequently linked leaving with abolitionism in his writings. But his writings provide a more general understanding of the potentially disruptive effects of leaving in an expressive and ostentatious way, one that draws public attention to the exit itself and its connection with moral injustice.
Sean M. Kelley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627687
- eISBN:
- 9781469627700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627687.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter discusses the aftermath of the sale, beginning with the voyage from South Carolina to Rhode Island. The Vernons earned a 17% profit from the voyage, which led them to send the Hare back ...
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This chapter discusses the aftermath of the sale, beginning with the voyage from South Carolina to Rhode Island. The Vernons earned a 17% profit from the voyage, which led them to send the Hare back to Sierra Leone again in November 1755. The formal outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1756 helped to ensure that this voyage would lose money. The section goes on to profile the later lives of the Vernons, Godfrey, Manigault, and Henry Laurens, who purchased 9 captives from the Hare. It concludes with a discussion of the early abolitionist movement, highlighting John Woolman’s visit to Newport just a few years after the voyage.Less
This chapter discusses the aftermath of the sale, beginning with the voyage from South Carolina to Rhode Island. The Vernons earned a 17% profit from the voyage, which led them to send the Hare back to Sierra Leone again in November 1755. The formal outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1756 helped to ensure that this voyage would lose money. The section goes on to profile the later lives of the Vernons, Godfrey, Manigault, and Henry Laurens, who purchased 9 captives from the Hare. It concludes with a discussion of the early abolitionist movement, highlighting John Woolman’s visit to Newport just a few years after the voyage.
Melinda Lawson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823279753
- eISBN:
- 9780823281503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823279753.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
Melinda Lawson explores the meaning of national loyalty through the writings of abolitionist leader Wendell Phillips, anti-slavery Congressman George Julian, and President Abraham Lincoln. The author ...
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Melinda Lawson explores the meaning of national loyalty through the writings of abolitionist leader Wendell Phillips, anti-slavery Congressman George Julian, and President Abraham Lincoln. The author stresses that elite men were moved by notionsof “duty,” compelling them to uphold moral principles in their civic roles. Lawson’s work suggests the challenges men of antislavery conviction faced in a slaveholding republic where the Constitution nurtured the “peculiar institution.” Theirs was not a national loyalty of blind allegiance to the Constitution and the laws. Instead, each of the three held as sacred the ideals of liberty and equality written in the Declaration of Independence. This chapter traces how each man navigated the complicated duties of a true patriot through disunion and war.Less
Melinda Lawson explores the meaning of national loyalty through the writings of abolitionist leader Wendell Phillips, anti-slavery Congressman George Julian, and President Abraham Lincoln. The author stresses that elite men were moved by notionsof “duty,” compelling them to uphold moral principles in their civic roles. Lawson’s work suggests the challenges men of antislavery conviction faced in a slaveholding republic where the Constitution nurtured the “peculiar institution.” Theirs was not a national loyalty of blind allegiance to the Constitution and the laws. Instead, each of the three held as sacred the ideals of liberty and equality written in the Declaration of Independence. This chapter traces how each man navigated the complicated duties of a true patriot through disunion and war.
Nikki M. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813140773
- eISBN:
- 9780813141428
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813140773.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
America’s First Black Socialist: The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark is a political and intellectual biography of one of the foremost activists, intellectuals, orators, and politicians in 19th century ...
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America’s First Black Socialist: The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark is a political and intellectual biography of one of the foremost activists, intellectuals, orators, and politicians in 19th century African-American history whose life is a testament to the black radical intellectual and political traditions. As a black radical intellectual, Peter H. Clark (1829-1925) used education, oratory, and editorials to confront the American conscience, critique the hypocrisies in the national discourse, and articulate a radical, more inclusive, democratic, and egalitarian vision of America. As a pioneer of the black radical political tradition, he used radical political ideas to forge a path to full and equal citizenship for his people. He embraced everything from radical abolitionism to revolutionary armed violence to socialism. As the first known black socialist, Clark was just one of a few native-born American leaders in a movement dominated by German immigrants. He became one of the most influential of the American socialists and his socialist lectures between 1876 and 1879 stand as the foundation of early black socialist thought. Although he never held a formal political position, Clark proved to be an astute politician who used both parties as tools to get what he wanted for African Americans and himself: political power. He exerted great influence on legislators, Ohio governors, Presidents, and Supreme Court Justices-- all of whom knew him personally and sought his help in courting the African-American vote. In his quest for power, he employed every strategy imaginable, including critiquing his party from within, joining factional and third parties, playing machine politics, advocating political realignment and political independence, and bribery. This book ultimately chronicles the rise and fall of a man who became corrupted by an unrelenting quest for political power.Less
America’s First Black Socialist: The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark is a political and intellectual biography of one of the foremost activists, intellectuals, orators, and politicians in 19th century African-American history whose life is a testament to the black radical intellectual and political traditions. As a black radical intellectual, Peter H. Clark (1829-1925) used education, oratory, and editorials to confront the American conscience, critique the hypocrisies in the national discourse, and articulate a radical, more inclusive, democratic, and egalitarian vision of America. As a pioneer of the black radical political tradition, he used radical political ideas to forge a path to full and equal citizenship for his people. He embraced everything from radical abolitionism to revolutionary armed violence to socialism. As the first known black socialist, Clark was just one of a few native-born American leaders in a movement dominated by German immigrants. He became one of the most influential of the American socialists and his socialist lectures between 1876 and 1879 stand as the foundation of early black socialist thought. Although he never held a formal political position, Clark proved to be an astute politician who used both parties as tools to get what he wanted for African Americans and himself: political power. He exerted great influence on legislators, Ohio governors, Presidents, and Supreme Court Justices-- all of whom knew him personally and sought his help in courting the African-American vote. In his quest for power, he employed every strategy imaginable, including critiquing his party from within, joining factional and third parties, playing machine politics, advocating political realignment and political independence, and bribery. This book ultimately chronicles the rise and fall of a man who became corrupted by an unrelenting quest for political power.
Nikki M. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813140773
- eISBN:
- 9780813141428
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813140773.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines Clark’s abolitionist career from 1853 to the end of the Civil War. The chapter’s premise is that the black conventions raised Clark’s consciousness, provided a forum for him to ...
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This chapter examines Clark’s abolitionist career from 1853 to the end of the Civil War. The chapter’s premise is that the black conventions raised Clark’s consciousness, provided a forum for him to develop his leadership skills, introduced him to a network of other leading African Americans, and fostered his maturation as a leader. It contends that these conventions were one aspect of black abolitionism, while his penning a history of an African American regiment during the Civil War was another. The chapter also examines his relationship with Cincinnati free thinking radicals Moncure Conway and August Willich.Less
This chapter examines Clark’s abolitionist career from 1853 to the end of the Civil War. The chapter’s premise is that the black conventions raised Clark’s consciousness, provided a forum for him to develop his leadership skills, introduced him to a network of other leading African Americans, and fostered his maturation as a leader. It contends that these conventions were one aspect of black abolitionism, while his penning a history of an African American regiment during the Civil War was another. The chapter also examines his relationship with Cincinnati free thinking radicals Moncure Conway and August Willich.
Katie Chenoweth
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823280100
- eISBN:
- 9780823281541
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823280100.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter focuses on the Eleventh Session of Derrida’s Death Penalty seminar. In this session Derrida pauses in his readings of post-Enlightenment abolitionist discourse to turn to the Essais of ...
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This chapter focuses on the Eleventh Session of Derrida’s Death Penalty seminar. In this session Derrida pauses in his readings of post-Enlightenment abolitionist discourse to turn to the Essais of Michel de Montaigne, the sixteenth-century French philosopher whose famous tower library he had visited shortly before delivering this lecture on March 22, 2000. Derrida opens the session by quoting Montaigne in a manner he describes as “theatrical” and somewhat “violent,” before announcing: “Since I’m at Montaigne, I’m going to stay a while.” This chapter asks what this “stay at Montaigne” represents for Derrida, how it operates strategically in his deconstruction of the death penalty, and what specific force Montaigne represents for Derrida. The chapter also examines several passages in Montaigne’s Essais not discussed by Derrida in order to see how Montaigne’s Pyrrhonian-style skepticism offers a pre-Enlightenment model of opposition to capital punishment.Less
This chapter focuses on the Eleventh Session of Derrida’s Death Penalty seminar. In this session Derrida pauses in his readings of post-Enlightenment abolitionist discourse to turn to the Essais of Michel de Montaigne, the sixteenth-century French philosopher whose famous tower library he had visited shortly before delivering this lecture on March 22, 2000. Derrida opens the session by quoting Montaigne in a manner he describes as “theatrical” and somewhat “violent,” before announcing: “Since I’m at Montaigne, I’m going to stay a while.” This chapter asks what this “stay at Montaigne” represents for Derrida, how it operates strategically in his deconstruction of the death penalty, and what specific force Montaigne represents for Derrida. The chapter also examines several passages in Montaigne’s Essais not discussed by Derrida in order to see how Montaigne’s Pyrrhonian-style skepticism offers a pre-Enlightenment model of opposition to capital punishment.
Sarah Tyson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823280100
- eISBN:
- 9780823281541
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823280100.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
In the United States, life without parole (LWOP) has become the leading alternative to the death penalty. However, we have compelling reason to be suspicious what passes for the abolition of the ...
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In the United States, life without parole (LWOP) has become the leading alternative to the death penalty. However, we have compelling reason to be suspicious what passes for the abolition of the death penalty. If, with the death penalty, we have the calculation of the precise moment a life will end, with LWOP we have a different sort of calculation: however long the life of the accused, that will be length of punishment appropriate to this crime. The only possible life after a sentence of LWOP would be the afterlife of civil and social death. This chapter moves between Derrida’s seminar on the death penalty, his interview “Death Penalties,” and the written reflections of people serving LWOP sentences, particularly Spoon Jackson, and people condemned to die to interrogate the leading “alternative” to the death penalty and to continue the work of thinking deconstructive abolitionism.Less
In the United States, life without parole (LWOP) has become the leading alternative to the death penalty. However, we have compelling reason to be suspicious what passes for the abolition of the death penalty. If, with the death penalty, we have the calculation of the precise moment a life will end, with LWOP we have a different sort of calculation: however long the life of the accused, that will be length of punishment appropriate to this crime. The only possible life after a sentence of LWOP would be the afterlife of civil and social death. This chapter moves between Derrida’s seminar on the death penalty, his interview “Death Penalties,” and the written reflections of people serving LWOP sentences, particularly Spoon Jackson, and people condemned to die to interrogate the leading “alternative” to the death penalty and to continue the work of thinking deconstructive abolitionism.
Lisa Guenther
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823280100
- eISBN:
- 9780823281541
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823280100.003.0014
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
In Derrida’s lectures on the death penalty, the United States figures as “both exemplary and exceptional." Derrida acknowledges the racist structure of state violence in the United States, but he ...
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In Derrida’s lectures on the death penalty, the United States figures as “both exemplary and exceptional." Derrida acknowledges the racist structure of state violence in the United States, but he does not develop a critical analysis of race or racism. Drawing on the work of incarcerated intellectual Mumia Abu-Jamal, critical race theorists Cheryl Harris and Angela Davis, and contemporary prison abolitionists, this chapter argues that racism is an issue, not only in the particular context of the United States, but also for the logic of the death penalty that Derrida proposes to deconstruct. Derrida’s own account of indemnity, interest, and condemnation is incomplete without a supplementary analysis of black civil death and the construction of whiteness as property. In conclusion, this chapter argues that an abolitionism worthy of the name would have to move beyond the death penalty, towards the (im)possible project of prison abolition and the abolition of white supremacy.Less
In Derrida’s lectures on the death penalty, the United States figures as “both exemplary and exceptional." Derrida acknowledges the racist structure of state violence in the United States, but he does not develop a critical analysis of race or racism. Drawing on the work of incarcerated intellectual Mumia Abu-Jamal, critical race theorists Cheryl Harris and Angela Davis, and contemporary prison abolitionists, this chapter argues that racism is an issue, not only in the particular context of the United States, but also for the logic of the death penalty that Derrida proposes to deconstruct. Derrida’s own account of indemnity, interest, and condemnation is incomplete without a supplementary analysis of black civil death and the construction of whiteness as property. In conclusion, this chapter argues that an abolitionism worthy of the name would have to move beyond the death penalty, towards the (im)possible project of prison abolition and the abolition of white supremacy.
Leonardo Marques
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300212419
- eISBN:
- 9780300224733
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300212419.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
The introduction shows some of the main theoretical and historiographical approaches that are explored by the author. It also provides an outline of the main themes and sources discussed in the book.
The introduction shows some of the main theoretical and historiographical approaches that are explored by the author. It also provides an outline of the main themes and sources discussed in the book.
Wim Klooster and Gert Oostindie
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501705267
- eISBN:
- 9781501719592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705267.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
In the decades on either side of 1800, the geopolitical weakness of the Dutch Republic was exposed, resulting in its collapse at home and significant contraction of its empire. This long and at times ...
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In the decades on either side of 1800, the geopolitical weakness of the Dutch Republic was exposed, resulting in its collapse at home and significant contraction of its empire. This long and at times revolutionary intermezzo led to the dissolution of the WIC the loss of the Dutch broker function, and – imposed by Britain – the abolition of the slave trade. Antislavery thought had been conspicuously weak in the Republic since the early days of colonization, and virtually absent in its colonies, and publications on the Dutch colonies served to initiate its European readership in the ways money could be and was being made there. At the end of the Napoleonic period, Britain did not return the Guiana colonies it had occupied (Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo), completing a de facto takeover that had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century by British planters and merchants.Less
In the decades on either side of 1800, the geopolitical weakness of the Dutch Republic was exposed, resulting in its collapse at home and significant contraction of its empire. This long and at times revolutionary intermezzo led to the dissolution of the WIC the loss of the Dutch broker function, and – imposed by Britain – the abolition of the slave trade. Antislavery thought had been conspicuously weak in the Republic since the early days of colonization, and virtually absent in its colonies, and publications on the Dutch colonies served to initiate its European readership in the ways money could be and was being made there. At the end of the Napoleonic period, Britain did not return the Guiana colonies it had occupied (Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo), completing a de facto takeover that had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century by British planters and merchants.
Ruma Chopra
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300220469
- eISBN:
- 9780300235227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300220469.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, African History
The Maroons evaded blaming Jamaica or Nova Scotia for their perilous situation. Strategically, they focused on the inappropriateness of the severe climate in Nova Scotia: they, as black people, could ...
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The Maroons evaded blaming Jamaica or Nova Scotia for their perilous situation. Strategically, they focused on the inappropriateness of the severe climate in Nova Scotia: they, as black people, could not live, they wrote, where there are no yams, pineapples or cayenne pepper. The Maroons found a sympathetic audience in abolition advocates who worried that blacks were constitutionally unfit to survive the winters of Canada. A people born in the tropics, they believed, could survive best in another tropical region. Reports on black Americans who had migrated and perished in Sierra Leone in 1787 and 1792 were ignored.Less
The Maroons evaded blaming Jamaica or Nova Scotia for their perilous situation. Strategically, they focused on the inappropriateness of the severe climate in Nova Scotia: they, as black people, could not live, they wrote, where there are no yams, pineapples or cayenne pepper. The Maroons found a sympathetic audience in abolition advocates who worried that blacks were constitutionally unfit to survive the winters of Canada. A people born in the tropics, they believed, could survive best in another tropical region. Reports on black Americans who had migrated and perished in Sierra Leone in 1787 and 1792 were ignored.
Graham Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780719088858
- eISBN:
- 9781781705773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088858.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter provides an overview of the history of British-African interaction. It begins with pre-modern interactions which were very sparse. It goes on to focus on slavery as a major starting ...
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This chapter provides an overview of the history of British-African interaction. It begins with pre-modern interactions which were very sparse. It goes on to focus on slavery as a major starting point in British-African relations. It then proceeds to review abolitionist politics, missionary travels, colonialism, decolonisation, and post-colonialoism. It highlights the centrality of Christianity and liberalism in the ways that the British thought about Africa.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the history of British-African interaction. It begins with pre-modern interactions which were very sparse. It goes on to focus on slavery as a major starting point in British-African relations. It then proceeds to review abolitionist politics, missionary travels, colonialism, decolonisation, and post-colonialoism. It highlights the centrality of Christianity and liberalism in the ways that the British thought about Africa.
Graham Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780719088858
- eISBN:
- 9781781705773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088858.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter reviews the major Africa campaigns in Britain: the campaign to abolish slavery, It analyses each campaign as part of a campaign tradition. It does this by connecting the campaign’s ...
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This chapter reviews the major Africa campaigns in Britain: the campaign to abolish slavery, It analyses each campaign as part of a campaign tradition. It does this by connecting the campaign’s efforts to represent Africa through frame analysis. More specifically, the chapter focuses on three forms of framing: diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing. The chapter highlights certain core practices of representation: the boycott, petitions, and the use of propaganda.Less
This chapter reviews the major Africa campaigns in Britain: the campaign to abolish slavery, It analyses each campaign as part of a campaign tradition. It does this by connecting the campaign’s efforts to represent Africa through frame analysis. More specifically, the chapter focuses on three forms of framing: diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing. The chapter highlights certain core practices of representation: the boycott, petitions, and the use of propaganda.
