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Slavery, Abolitionists & Black Nationalism

Slavery was called the "peculiar institution," and it was stoutly defended by those who benefited from it, the white plantation owners in the South, just as is was vehemently opposed by abolitionists in both North and South who saw it as an evil. Slavery was a business for some, an economic necessity for others, and for those enslaved, a way of life from which they could only rarely escape. The image of the abolitionist has been of white Northerners who formed societies and agitated for change, serving a swell as part of the underground railroad to free slaves. However, there were also black abolitionists who played a prominent and important role, and African American leaders among the freed slave population served a particular role in that they had been victims of slavery and were now able to express themselves as they had been denied while slaves.

Stuckey finds that many "free" and slave blacks became dedicated to the idea of liberation with the American Revolution and the Haitian Revolt, leading many to desire unity in their ranks and control over their own destinies as well as independence from an oppressive and racist society. This coincided with the development of the United States after the Revolution: "It was obvious to black leaders that their people were not meaningfully included in the new nation, particularly since the great majority of them were still slaves." There is evidence that a sense of black nationalism infused the slave population, but clearly it was in the North among "free" blacks where there was an opportunity for them to frame their thoughts into statements calling for a transformation of values and the creation of institutions to move black people from dependency to liberation.

An early statement of black nationalism is found in The Ethiopian Manifesto, published by Robert Alan Young in 1829 with his own funds. This brief document contains the essential elements of black nationalism as You...

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Slavery, Abolitionists & Black Nationalism. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 19:31, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1689715.html