Blind No More

African American Resistance, Free-Soil Politics, and the Coming of the Civil War

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Discrimination & Race Relations, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Military
Cover of the book Blind No More by Jonathan Daniel Wells, University of Georgia Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jonathan Daniel Wells ISBN: 9780820354842
Publisher: University of Georgia Press Publication: April 15, 2019
Imprint: University of Georgia Press Language: English
Author: Jonathan Daniel Wells
ISBN: 9780820354842
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Publication: April 15, 2019
Imprint: University of Georgia Press
Language: English

With a fresh interpretation of African American resistance to kidnapping and pre–Civil War political culture, Blind No More sheds new light on the coming of the Civil War by focusing on a neglected truism: the antebellum free states experienced a dramatic ideological shift that questioned the value of the Union. Jonathan Daniel Wells explores the cause of disunion as the persistent determination on the part of enslaved people that they would flee bondage no matter the risks. By protesting against kidnappings and fugitive slave renditions, they brought slavery to the doorstep of the free states, forcing those states to recognize the meaning of freedom and the meaning of states’ rights in the face of a federal government equally determined to keep standing its divided house.

Through these actions, African Americans helped northerners and westerners question whether the constitutional compact was still worth upholding, a reevaluation of the republican experiment that would ultimately lead not just to Civil War but to the Thirteenth Amendment, ending slavery. Wells contends that the real story of American freedom lay not with the Confederate rebels nor even with the Union army but instead rests with the tens of thousands of self-emancipated men and women who demonstrated to the Founders, and to succeeding generations of Americans, the value of liberty.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

With a fresh interpretation of African American resistance to kidnapping and pre–Civil War political culture, Blind No More sheds new light on the coming of the Civil War by focusing on a neglected truism: the antebellum free states experienced a dramatic ideological shift that questioned the value of the Union. Jonathan Daniel Wells explores the cause of disunion as the persistent determination on the part of enslaved people that they would flee bondage no matter the risks. By protesting against kidnappings and fugitive slave renditions, they brought slavery to the doorstep of the free states, forcing those states to recognize the meaning of freedom and the meaning of states’ rights in the face of a federal government equally determined to keep standing its divided house.

Through these actions, African Americans helped northerners and westerners question whether the constitutional compact was still worth upholding, a reevaluation of the republican experiment that would ultimately lead not just to Civil War but to the Thirteenth Amendment, ending slavery. Wells contends that the real story of American freedom lay not with the Confederate rebels nor even with the Union army but instead rests with the tens of thousands of self-emancipated men and women who demonstrated to the Founders, and to succeeding generations of Americans, the value of liberty.

More books from University of Georgia Press

Cover of the book Sounding the Color Line by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Upheaval in Charleston by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Murder at Broad River Bridge by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Conscientious Thinking by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Introduction to Housing by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book The Three Paradoxes of Roland Barthes by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Slavery on the Periphery by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book A People's War on Poverty by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book The People I Know by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Love, Liberation, and Escaping Slavery by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Jim Crow, Literature, and the Legacy of Sutton E. Griggs by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Latining America by Jonathan Daniel Wells
Cover of the book Making Black History by Jonathan Daniel Wells
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy