American Abolitionism: Its Direct Political Impact from Colonial Times into Reconstruction by Stanley Harrold (review)

Stanley Harrold’s American Abolitionism tackles the complicated relationship between abolitionist activists and politics. In a dense text, Harrold sets out to argue that “abolitionists demonstratively influenced broader, less principled, less comprehensive, and far less radical political antislavery efforts” (3) through their political work. This is a historiographically important argument, as the actual impact of antislavery action has been mostly written off by historians as immeasurable and inherently unimportant to our understanding of those who fought inequality. Unfortunately, Harrold’s account falls slightly short of achieving a clear connection between political change and abolitionist action outside of a few key pieces of legislation. He does succeed in chronicling the direct impacts of abolitionist activity on politicians and political debates. The absence of the work of women and African American petitions and lobbying is most striking, and is perhaps driven by the focus of the book on national politics rather than local and state battles. As a result, the book feels at times quite disconnected from recent scholarship on abolitionism that has recentered the work done by black and female reformers. The real strength of the book is Harrold’s deep analysis of the impact of antislavery lobbying and personal connections on the political activities of sympathetic congressmen.

The story Harrold tells begins with Quaker radicals in the colonial era and concludes with the debates over race and citizenship during Reconstruction. The chapters are organized in chronological order and mainly adhere to established eras in political history. The opening chapter covers the early stages of abolitionism in Quaker circles in the mid-Atlantic and New England and focuses particularly on Quaker influence on politicians during the constitutional era. The second chapter examines antislavery politics during the early republic and the impact of colonization efforts on American politics. The chapters on the antebellum era are divided along the lines of shifts in the antislavery movement, from early abolition, the divide between Garrison and the political abolitionists, and the rise of Free Soil politics. It is these central chapters that make the most compelling argument for the impact of abolitionist politics on the national political field. The final two chapters cover the rise of the Republican Party and the successes and failures of Reconstruction. Because of this vast scope, the book moves quite rapidly through the political as well as theoretical shifts in the antislavery movement, which might leave a reader who is not thoroughly grounded in early American political and reform history a bit lost in the details. As a result, this book would likely be beyond the understanding of undergraduates and early graduate students.

American Abolitionism is particularly engaging and effective in its chapters focusing on the operations of the abolition lobby. In the fourth chapter, Harrold gives a lively and nuanced description of the political wrangling during the congressional debate over antislavery petitions, the impact of the Liberty Party, and the role of the Baltimore and Ohio branch of the railroad system, which allowed northerners easy access to Washington, D.C. Of particular interest is his focus on the work of Joshua Leavitt, an advocate of both the Liberty Party and immediate abolition who steered much of the lobbying work of the 1840s. Leavitt’s connections to politicians and his political radicalism led to colorful and vigorous debates over slavery in correspondence and the press. Harrold’s ability to tell an engaging story by following a single historical figure makes this chapter and the following one on Free Soil politics the most compelling of the entire book. The fifth chapter focuses mainly on the role of Lewis Tappan in shaping abolitionist politics in the era of growing divisions within the larger antislavery movement. The descriptions of Leavitt and Tappan are detailed and engaging, and Harrold deftly builds a clear picture of Washington politics around these two men.

Overall, Stanley Harrold’s deep familiarity with the subject of antislavery politics...