The Struggle for Equality
Subtitle: Abolitionists and the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction - Updated Edition
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: Oct 26, 2014
Language: eng
Format: paperback
Number of pages: 496
ISBN-13: 9780691163901
Description: Civil War historian James McPherson offers an analysis of the abolitionist movement and the legal basis it provided to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It demonstrates the successful role played by rights activists during and after the Civil War, as they evolved from despised fanatics into influential spokespersons for the radical wing of the Republican party. Intensely individual efforts characterized the movement, demonstrated by letters and anti-slavery periodicals that let the voices of the abolitionists express for themselves their triumphs and anxieties. Asserting that it was not the abolitionists who failed in their efforts to instill the principles of equality on the state level but rather the American people who refused to follow their leadership, McPherson raises broad questions about the obstacles that have long hindered American reform movements in general.
Notes: Source title: The Struggle for Equality: Abolitionists and the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction - Updated Edition (Princeton Classics)