Confronting Slavery: Edward Coles and the Rise of Antislavery Politics in Ninete

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Raised amid Virginia's wealthiest slaveholders, Edwards Coles was a close associate of many of nation's leaders, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison among them. And, like Jefferson, he believed the institution of slavery to be morally and ideologically wrong. This title offers a study of slavery and social activism in nineteenth-century America.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Edward Coles, who lived from 1786-1868, is most often remembered for his antislavery correspondence with Thomas Jefferson in 1814, freeing his slaves in 1819, and leading the campaign against the legalization of slavery in Illinois during the 1823-24 convention contest.In this new full-length biography Suzanne Cooper Guasco demonstrates for the first time how Edward Coles continued to confront slavery for nearly forty years after his time in Illinois. Not only did he attempt to shape the slavery debates in Virginia immediately before and after Nat Turner's rebellion, he also consistently entered national political discussions about slavery throughout the 1830s, 40s, and 50s. On each occasion Coles promoted a vision of the nation that combined a celebration of America's antislavery past with an endorsement of free labor ideology and colonization, a broad appeal that was designed to mollify his fellow-countrymen's sense of economic self-interest and virulent anti-black prejudice. As Cooper Guasco persuasively shows, Coles's antislavery nationalism, first crafted in Illinois in the 1820s, became the foundation of the Republican Party platform and ultimately contributed to the destruction of slavery.By exploring his entire life, readers come to see Edward Coles as a vital link between the unfulfilled antislavery sensibility of men like Thomas Jefferson and the pragmatic antislavery politics of Abraham Lincoln. In Edward Coles' life-long confrontation with slavery, as well, we witness the rise of antislavery politics in nineteenth-century America and come to understand the central role politics played in the fight against slavery.

Author Biography

Suzanne Cooper Guasco is the Robert Haywood Morrison Associate Professor and Chair of History at Queens University of Charlotte.

Review

Suzanne Cooper Guasco... tells Coles's story as a 'life-long confrontation with slavery.' Her account is fascinating, inspiring, and tragic all at once. * Claremont Review of Books *The book's major strengths lie in Guasco's recognition that Coles's life and antislavery politics span eras, regions, and ideologies that historians often examine in isolation, preventing them from seeing nineteenth-century social and political histories as deeply intertwined. She effectively makes the case for Coles's own trajectory, demonstrates the development of antislavery politics over several decades, and thereby brings Coles more fully into the historiography of antislavery. * Ohio Valley History *Suzanne Cooper Guasco's elegantly written study of Edward Coles, second governor of Illinois, proves that his life story merits historians' attention. Cooper Guasco has a gift for selecting diverting examples, and she adeptly depicts how throughout his long public life Coles battled sectionalism, sought national unity, and tirelessly argued that the United States' founders opposed slavery. * Middle West Review *Suzanne Cooper Guasco ably illuminates the debate over slavery and race from the revolutionary era through the early Reconstruction years, bridging important historiographic gaps in the process. * The Journal of American History *

Prizes

Winner of Midwest Book Award (MIPA) (Biography) 2014

Long Description

Edward Coles, who lived from 1786-1868, is most often remembered for his antislavery correspondence with Thomas Jefferson in 1814, freeing his slaves in 1819, and leading the campaign against the legalization of slavery in Illinois during the 1823-24 convention contest. In this new full-length biography Suzanne Cooper Guasco demonstrates for the first time how Edward Coles continued to confront slavery for nearly forty years after his time in Illinois. Not only did he attempt to shape the slavery debates in Virginia immediately before and after Nat Turner's rebellion, he also consistently entered national political discussions about slavery throughout the 1830s, 40s, and 50s. On each occasion Coles promoted a vision of the nation that combined a celebration of America's antislavery past with an endorsement of free labor ideology and colonization, a broad appeal that was designed to mollify his fellow-countrymen's sense of economic self-interest and virulent anti-black prejudice. As Cooper Guasco persuasively shows, Coles's antislavery nationalism, first crafted in Illinois in the 1820s, became the foundation of the Republican Party platform and ultimately contributed to the destruction of slavery. By exploring his entire life, readers come to see Edward Coles as a vital link between the unfulfilled antislavery sensibility of men like Thomas Jefferson and the pragmatic antislavery politics of Abraham Lincoln. In Edward Coles' life-long confrontation with slavery, as well, we witness the rise of antislavery politics in nineteenth-century America and come to understand the central role politics played in the fight against slavery.

Review Quote

"The book's major strengths lie in Guasco's recognition that Coles's life and antislavery politics span eras, regions, and ideologies that historians often examine in isolation, preventing them from seeing nineteenth-century social and political histories as deeply intertwined. She effectively makes the case for Coles's own trajectory, demonstrates the development of antislavery politics over several decades, and thereby brings Coles more fully into the historiography of antislavery."

Description for Bookstore

Edward Coles (1786-1868) is famous for his decision to liberate his enslaved subjects and his political activities in Illinois during the 1820s. He was raised amidst Virginia's wealthiest slaveholders and was on intimate terms with many of the nation's most renowned leaders, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison among them. He also shared with them the conclusion that slavery was morally and ideologically wrong. Unlike both of these men and most of his Southern contemporaries, however, Edward Coles followed through with his convictions and liberated his human property. For this act of benevolence, Coles has been recognized by many scholars of the post-Revolutionary antislavery impulse as a singular figure in its history.

Details ISBN0875806899 Language English Year 2013 ISBN-10 0875806899 ISBN-13 9780875806891 Format Paperback Publication Date 2013-03-15 Short Title CONFRONTING SLAVERY Media Book Author Suzanne Cooper Guasco Series Early American Places (New York University Press) Imprint Northern Illinois University Press Place of Publication Dekalb, IL Country of Publication United States Subtitle Edward Coles and the Rise of Antislavery Politics in Nineteenth-Century America UK Release Date 2013-03-15 AU Release Date 2013-03-15 NZ Release Date 2013-03-15 US Release Date 2013-03-15 Pages 300 Publisher Cornell University Press Alternative 9781501756894 DEWEY 306.3620973 Illustrations 12 halftones Audience Undergraduate We've got this

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