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Acknowledgments I have been fortunate at Georgetown University. There I have been a student , a worker, an alumnus, a professor, and most recently the proud father of a Georgetown graduate. Along the way I found support and kindness from many souls. Late-night talks with the security guards, especially Patricia Watkins, and early-morning talks with the janitorial crews have kept my feet on the ground. Elizabeth English, Djuana Shields, and Kathy Gallagher of the history department have given helping hands along the way. The librarians at Lauinger Library have always answered my queries and aided me in my research. Special thanks go to Professor Emeritus Dorothy Brown. She is one grand lady. The president of Georgetown University, Jack DeGioia, offered me meaningful employment, which helped me provide for my family when I was in graduate school. Darryl E. Christmon, vice president and chief financial officer for the Georgetown main campus, has been a kind and supportive colleague. I am indebted to Carole Sargent and Andrew Rolfson of Georgetown’s Office of Scholarly Publications. My mentor, Marcus Rediker, formerly of Georgetown and now at the University of Pittsburgh, first steered me to Anthony Benezet. Often times I have thanked him for that and often times I have not. His profound knowledge of early American and Atlantic history and his penetrating studies of ‘‘history from below’’ have inspired me. Many members of the faculty at Georgetown have offered their kind words and insights. They have treated me with dignity and respect, and that is all a person could ask for in this sometimes-unkind world. I am especially grateful to Adam Rothman, Joe McCartin, and Michael Kazin, who read key sections and complicated formulations. My faculty chair, John Tutino, along with Gabor Agoston, Chandra Manning, David Goldfrank, Osama Abi-Mershed, Catherine Evtuhov, Andrzej Kaminski, and Judith Tucker always inquired of my work, which lifted my spirits. Richard Stites, who shares my love for the cultures of the world and the American popular song, showed me that a serious scholar can also have serious fun. Without the support of Jim Collins this project could not have been completed. Although he has been in the midst of finishing several important books on early modern French history, he always took the time to discuss my ideas and to assure me that there was really a light at the end of the tunnel. He has been my teacher, my colleague, and my friend, made more special by 372 Acknowledgments our common love for our children, for the study of history, the game of basketball, and the music of Thelonious Monk. Former Georgetown student Amy Byers was essential in the final editing of this project and Lena Jackson, also a recent Georgetown graduate, aided me in countless ways, especially in locating and analyzing maps and along with Miles Jackson, the ways of computers. I am indebted to Denise Benskin and Sarah Cook, two outstanding students, who did research and translations related to the debates over slavery in France and the development of the Société des Amis des Noirs, and to Jim Collins and Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, two leading scholars of early modern France, for their insights. Former dean Jane Dammen McAuliffe, the new president of Bryn Mawr, supported my efforts, as did Rosemary Kilkenny, Georgetown’s Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, and Angelyn Mitchell, director of the African American Studies Program. Robin Blackburn of Verso Press and Yale Professor Emeritus David Brion Davis gave me precious time whenever I visited with them. I am equally indebted to James Miller of George Washington University, Lou Outlaw of Vanderbilt University, Father Joseph Brown S.J. of Southern Illinois University , David Schwartzman and Ethelbert Miller of Howard University, Clarence Lusane at the American University, Charles Behling of the University of Michigan, and James Early at the Smithsonian Institution. Although they come from different scholarly disciplines they always showed that great scholars could also be great human beings. I have visited many libraries and research facilities. I thank all of those who I have burdened with my queries and demands. I thank the librarians, especially those at the rare book collections and archives at Howard University , Yale University, Bryn Mawr College, the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, Trinity College, the Library of Congress, Haverford College, and Georgetown University. Roger Bruns at the National Archives showed me the way to invaluable materials. Bonita Grant of the Rutgers University Special Collections and Harold Batie...

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