I Freed Myself :African American Self-Emancipation in the Civil War Era

Publication subTitle :African American Self-Emancipation in the Civil War Era

Author: David Williams  

Publisher: Cambridge University Press‎

Publication year: 2014

E-ISBN: 9781139898430

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9781107016491

Subject: K712.43 南北战争(1861~1865年)

Keyword: 美洲史

Language: ENG

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I Freed Myself

Description

For a century and a half, Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has been the dominant narrative of African American freedom in the Civil War era. However, David Williams suggests that this portrayal marginalizes the role that African American slaves played in freeing themselves. At the Civil War's outset, Lincoln made clear his intent was to save the Union rather than free slaves - despite his personal distaste for slavery, he claimed no authority to interfere with the institution. By the second year of the war, though, when the Union army was in desperate need of black support, former slaves who escaped to Union lines struck a bargain: they would fight for the Union only if they were granted their freedom. Williams importantly demonstrates that freedom was not simply the absence of slavery but rather a dynamic process enacted by self-emancipated African American refugees, which compelled Lincoln to modify his war aims and place black freedom at the center of his wartime policies.

Chapter

1 “Yes, We All Shall Be Free”: Pressing the Nation Toward Freedom

Slavery without Submission

Contesting Northern Slavery

Preparing to Meet the Crisis

More Cases of Insubordination than Ever

Insurrection and the Knell of Slavery

2 “Shedding the First Blood”: Forcing a War for Freedom

The Enemy at Home

Blind, Unreasoning Prejudice

Impossible to Keep Them outside Our Lines

They Say They Are Free

What Shall We Do with the Contrabands?

A New Departure for the President

A Half-Way Measure

3 “Ready to Die for Liberty”: Expanding the Boundaries of Freedom

They Know Everything that Happens

Unoffending Negroes Brutally Assailed

We Will Fight for Our Rights and Liberty

Entering the Army by Hundreds and Thousands

We Did Our Duty as Men

They Treat the Men Like Dogs

Little Aid from the Government

4 “Full Equality before the Law”: Claiming the Rights of Freedom

The “Faithful Slave” Is about Played Out

Ready to Help Anybody Opposed to the Rebels

We Has a Right to the Land

Southern Negroes Must Stay Where They Are

It Is Enough to Free Them

A Partial Emancipation Unworthy of the Name

5 “All We Ask Is Justice”: Continuing Struggles for Freedom

Demanding Absolute Legal Equality

The Old Slave Laws Remain Unrepealed

Every Man Who Voted Was Watched

Rebel Rule Is Now Nearly Complete

But I Kept On

Index

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