Abolitionism, Richard S. Newman
Abolitionism, Richard S. Newman
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Abolitionism
A Very Short Introduction

Author: Richard S. Newman

Narrator: Janina Edwards

Unabridged: 4 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/04/2018


Synopsis

From early slave rebels to radical reformers of the Civil War era and beyond, the struggle to end slavery was a diverse, dynamic, and ramifying social movement. In this succinct narrative, Richard S. Newman examines the key people, themes, and ideas that animated abolitionism in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries in the United States and internationally. Filled with portraits of key abolitionists—including Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Anthony Benezet, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Elizabeth Heyrick, Richard Allen, and Angelina Grimké—the book highlights abolitionists' focus on social and political action. From the Underground Railroad and legal aid for oppressed people to legislative lobbying and military service, abolitionists employed every conceivable means to attack slavery and racial injustice. Their collective struggles helped bring down slavery—the most powerful economic and political institution of the age—across the Atlantic world and inspired generations of reformers.

Sharply written and highly engrossing, Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction offers an inspiring portrait of the men and women who dedicated their lives to fighting racial oppression.

About Richard S. Newman

Richard S. Newman is a professor of history at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His books include The Transformation of American Abolitionism and Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the Black Founding Fathers, and the AME Church. He is the former director of the Library Company of Philadelphia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jason on January 03, 2019

Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction provides a helpful survey of the transatlantic movement to abolish slavery. Although the work briefly addresses the history of abolition in Europe and South America, the focus of this book is on abolition in the United States. Newman's account at places seems......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on October 31, 2019

Excellent overview by a first-rate scholar in the field of abolition studies. Reading the history of abolitionism is like discovering a new country, a new people I had never been taught about before. There are heroes in spades in this history. Highly recommend.......more

Goodreads review by Bevan on October 23, 2019

I had expected to get a better picture of the main currents within global (or Atlantic, at least) abolitionism. The book touched on these topics a little bit, but the weight of the effort was giving a tour of major events leading up to American abolition during the Civil War. Obviously one of the bi......more

Goodreads review by Greg on April 04, 2025

A thoughtful but slim look at abolition, good enough to feel unsatisfied by the brevity. Aiming to be both short and comprehensive, it means the author has to march through a bunch of the events and people, only briefly touching on any one incident: Dred Scott gets a page and a half, John Brown gets......more

Goodreads review by AlohaKarina on April 25, 2021

Professor Newman is an expert in abolitionism and this is an excellent very short introduction. I highly recommend it if you want a short and concise overview from an expert historian.......more