| Description |
xvii, 347 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-335) and index. |
| Contents |
Present at the Creation : 1863-1877 -- The Twilight Years, 1877-1898 -- Family, Church, and Community -- Education and Work -- Politics and Resistance : From 1900 to World War I -- World War I -- The 1920s and '30s -- The Persistence of Struggle, the Beginning of Hope : African Americans and World War II -- Postwar Protest -- A New Language of Protest, A New Generation of Activists -- Winning the Right to Vote, Coming Apart in the Process -- Triumph and Division -- The Struggle Continues. |
| Summary |
"All-Black institutions and local community groups have been at the forefront of the freedom struggle since the beginning. Lifting the Chains is a history of the Black experience in America since the Civil War, told by one of our most distinguished historians of modern America, William H. Chafe. He argues that, despite the wishes and arguments of many whites to the contrary, the struggle for freedom has been carried out primarily by Black Americans, with only occasional assistance from whites. Chafe highlights the role of all-black institutions--especially the churches, lodges, local gangs, neighborhood women's groups, and the Black college clubs that gathered at local pool halls--that talked up the issues, examined different courses of action, and then put their lives on the line to make change happen. The book draws heavily on the tremendous oral history archives at Duke that Chafe founded and nurtured, much of which is previously unpublished. The archives are now a collection of more than 3,600 oral histories tracing the evolution of Black activism, managed under the auspices of the Duke Center for Documentary History. The project uncovered the degree to which Blacks never gave up the struggle against racism, even during the height of Jim Crow segregation from 1900 to 1950. Chafe draws on these valuable resources to build this definitive history of African American activism, a history that can and should inform Black Lives Matter and other contemporary social justice movements."--Publisher. |
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"It was 1863. Abraham Galloway--son of a white father and an enslaved mother--stood next to the Army recruiter, holding a gun to the soldier's head. He had escaped slavery in the hold--of a ship four years earlier, fleeing to Canada, then became a master spy for the Union Army. Now, in the days after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Galloway had returned to North Carolina, becoming the leader of more than 4,000 escaped slaves who had joined him in New Bern, North Carolina. We will join the Union Army, Galloway told the recruiter, but only on our terms. Galloway then laid down his demands: the right to vote; the right to serve on juries; the right to run for elected office; equal pay for Black and white soldiers; schools for their children; jobs for women; and care for their families. In retrospect, the demands seem revolutionary. But not so, given the roles that Blacks were playing in the war. Hence, the recruiter said yes. Within days, 10,000 Blacks had joined Galloway to enlist in the Union Army. Those soldiers--along with nearly 200,000 other Blacks who enlisted--proved pivotal to destroying the system of plantation slavery. Soon, they would inaugurate the quest to create a truly democratic America"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
African Americans -- Civil rights -- History.
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African Americans -- Politics and government.
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African Americans -- Social conditions.
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Racism -- United States -- History.
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United States -- Race relations -- History.
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African American soldiers -- History.
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African American soldiers. (OCoLC)fst00799366
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African Americans -- Civil rights.
(OCoLC)fst00799575
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African Americans -- Politics and government. (OCoLC)fst00799659
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African Americans -- Social conditions.
(OCoLC)fst00799698
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Race relations. (OCoLC)fst01086509
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Racism. (OCoLC)fst01086616
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United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
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| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Added Title |
Black freedom struggle since Reconstruction |
| Other Form: |
Online version: Chafe, William H., 1942- Lifting the chains New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2023] 9780197616475 (DLC) 2023003795 |
| ISBN |
9780197616451 (hardback) |
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0197616453 (hardback) |
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9780197616475 (epub) |
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