Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers

Contents

Contents Preface and Acknowledgments ix Introduction: A Black Founder’s Many Worlds 1 1 “For Zion’s Sake . . . I Will Not Rest” 27 2 Gospel Labors 53 3 The Year of the Fever, Part 1: A (Deceptively) Simple Narrative of the Black People 78 4 The Year of the Fever, Part 2: Allen’s Antislavery Appeal 105 5 “We Participate in Common”: Allen’s Role as a Black Mediator 128 6 A Liberating Theology: Establishing the AME Church 158 7 Stay or Go? Allen and African Colonization 183 8 Allen Challenged: Shadow Politics and Community Conflict in the 1820s 209 9 A Black Founder’s Expanding Visions 238 10 Last Rights 264 Conclusion: Richard Allen and the Soul of Black Reform 291 Notes 301 Index 341 About the Author 359 vii ...