In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

54Quaker History Doherty is so cautious and qualified in his conclusions that any brief summary oversimplifies. The importance of his essay is in its suggestiveness. The city directory, the meeting minutes and membership records, the tax and probate records should be used for correlations of occupation, residence, quantity and type of property, etc. It is still anachronistic to apply an 1867 estate inventory to the 1827 Separation; but Doherty does demonstrate that you can understand more of the background by not treating the antagonists in terms of their theological and ethical preoccupations. He demonstrates that history includes description and analysis as well as narrative; and that there is a lot left to be done, both in demographic research and in weaving a new narrative comprehending each yearly meeting and the setting of North Atlantic civilization. Burlington, VermontT. D. Seymour Bassett Benjamin Lundy and tL· Struggle for Negro Freedom. By Merton L. Dillon. Urbana and London: University of Illinois Press. 1966. 285 pages. $6.75. This volume makes a significant contribution to the history of the antislavery movement, providing far more information about Benjamin Lundy than was previously available and adding a new dimension to the early phase of the reform movement. Although Lundy was early inspired by the examples of John Woolman, Anthony Benezet, and other Quaker pioneers, the author maintains that his view of slavery was mostly that of an Enlightenment rationalist rather than a religious fanatic. Lundy viewed slavery as an offense against natural law and destructive of the moral order of the universe rather than as a sin. He was therefore a gradualist in his approach to the problem. During much of his career Lundy earned a living as a saddler and maker of leather goods at the same time he made antislavery his true vocation. From the time of its founding in 1819 until his death in 1839 Lundy published the Genius of Universal Emancipation sporadically from such locations as Mount Pleasant, Ohio, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In its pages he developed many of the arguments later used by his disciple, William Lloyd Garrison. In referring to slaveholders Lundy used the kind of harsh language that is usually associated with Garrison. Among the significant concepts Lundy contributed to the antislavery case was that of the slaveholding conspiracy which he first detected in the unsuccessful attempt to introduce slavery into Illinois in 1823. Lundy consistently supported colonization for some Negroes, though he did not accept the program of the American Colonization Society. He deplored race prejudice and discrimination based upon it, but believed that if slaveholders and Northerners knew that freed slaves would be colonized in a suitable place they would more readily embrace the cause of emancipation. A trip to Canada convinced him that the climate was not suitable for those of African descent. He became involved in plans to colonize freed slaves in Haiti and in Mexican Texas. The first project, which had temporary support from the Haitian government, resulted in a few Negroes moving to the island; the Texas project never got beyond the planning stage. Indirectly, however, it contributed to Lundy's exposé Book Reviews55 of the alleged slaveholders' conspiracy behind the Texas annexation project. His well-researched and widely circulated book, The War in Texas, contributed to growing opposition to annexation and the defeat of that program in 1837. Temporary success in blocking Texas annexation was an example of antislavery political action, another of Lundy's long-time emphases. He worked with politicians throughout his career, supporting specific candidates, supplying legislators with petitions and arguments, and working for legislation useful to his cause. Among those influenced by Lundy was Congressman John Quincy Adams who, however, never fully enlisted in the abolition movement. Lundy was an important leader. His newspaper and other publications helped prepare the way for the reformers who came after him. Unlike many abolitionists, he knew slavery and the South from firsthand experience. He lived in Missouri during the debates of 1819 and 1820 and later in Tennessee and Maryland. Above all, he enlisted William Lloyd Garrison in the antislavery cause. Although Lundy did not live to see the end of slavery, he prophesied correctly that only war and coercion would...

pdf

Share