To Plead Our Own Cause: African Americans in Massachusetts and the Making of the Antislavery Movement

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How African Americans in Massachusetts initiated organized abolitionism in America “In To Plead Our Own Cause, Christopher Cameron offers a compelling analysis of abolitionism in early America, contending that African American men and women led the way in Massachusetts (and the rest of the United States) by linking their religious ideologies, based largely on Puritanism, and their antislavery ideologies. He challenges us to see the ways early black abolitionists wielded elements of their specific strains of primarily Calvinist Christianity and its many rhetorical devices, such as the jeremiad and covenant theology, as powerful tools and weapons for the causes of liberty and racial equality.” riChard a. Bailey author of Race and Redemption in Puritan New England “In this meticulously researched study, Christopher Cameron excavates the deep roots of the African American political tradition in Massachusetts. To Plead Our Own Cause is especially valuable as an analysis of the African American jeremiad tradition and as an argument for reperiodizing African American political history. Lucid and accessible, this book will be of value to specialists and students alike.” margot minardi author of Making Slavery History: Abolitionism and the Politics of Memory in Massachusetts “In his thoroughly researched exploration of the roots of black abolitionist activity, Christopher Cameron shifts our attention to Puritan practices and ideals. He argues that African American political life in Massachusetts emerged from a potent and surprising mix of legal precedents, social practices, and Protestant piety wielded by enslaved peoples to make their case for freedom. An original and persuasive contribution to our understanding of the roots of radical abolition.” laurie F. maFFly-Kipp author of Setting Down the Sacred Past: African American Race Histories american abolitionism and antislavery The Kent State University Press Kent, Ohio 44242 www.KentStateUniversityPress.com Cover image courtesy of the Library of Congress isbn 978-1-60635-194-9 9 781606 351949 ...