The story of the fascinating, fraught alliance among Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Maria Weston Chapman--and how its breakup led to the success of America`s most important social movement In the crucial early years of the Abolition movement, the Boston branch of the cause seized upon the star power of the eloquent ex-slave Frederick Douglass to make its case for slaves` freedom. Journalist William Lloyd Garrison promoted emancipation while Garrison loyalist Maria Weston Chapman, known as `the Contessa,` raised money and managed Douglass`s speaking tour from her Boston townhouse. Conventional histories have seen Douglass`s departure for the New York wing of the Abolition party as a result of a rift between Douglass and Garrison. But, as acclaimed historian Linda Hirshman reveals, this completely misses the woman in power. Weston Chapman wrote cutting letters to Douglass, doubting his loyalty; the Bostonian abolitionists were shot through with racist prejudice, even aiming the N-word at Douglass among themselves. Through incisive, original analysis, Hirshman convinces that the inevitable breakup was in fact a successful failure.Eventually, as the most sought-after Black activist in America, Douglass was able to dangle the prize of his endorsement over the Republican Party`s candidate for President, Abraham Lincoln. Two years later the abolition of slavery--if not the abolition of racism--became immutable law.
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Właśnie zrecenzowałem The Color Of Abolition: How a Printer, a Prophet, and a Contessa Moved a Nation
The story of the fascinating, fraught alliance among Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Maria Weston Chapman--and how its breakup led to the success of America`s most important social ...