The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the

The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement

By focusing on male leaders of the abolitionist movement, historians have often overlooked the great grassroots army of women who also fought to eliminate slavery. Here, Julie Roy Jeffrey explores the involvement of ordinary women--black and white--in the most significant reform movement prior to the Civil War. She offers a complex and compelling portrait of antebellum women's activism, tracing its changing contours over time.
For more than three decades, women raised money, carried petitions, created propaganda, sponsored lecture series, circulated newspapers, supported third-party movements, became public lecturers, and assisted fugitive slaves. Indeed, Jeffrey says, theirs was the day-to-day work that helped to keep abolitionism alive. Drawing from letters, diaries, and institutional records, she uses the words of ordinary women to illuminate the meaning of abolitionism in their lives, the rewards and challenges that their commitment provided, and the anguished personal and public steps that abolitionism sometimes demanded they take. Whatever their position on women's rights, argues Jeffrey, their abolitionist activism was a radical step--one that challenged the political and social status quo as well as conventional gender norms.

Country	USA
Author	Julie Roy Jeffrey
Binding	Paperback
Brand	Brand: The University of North Carolina Press
EAN	9780807847411
Edition	1st New edition
Feature	Used Book in Good Condition
ISBN	0807847410
Label	The University of North Carolina Press
Manufacturer	The University of North Carolina Press
MPN	11 illustrations, notes, bibliography, i
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	311
PartNumber	11 illustrations, notes, bibliography, i
PublicationDate	1998-11-09
Publisher	The University of North Carolina Press
Studio	The University of North Carolina Press
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement