The republic of violence The tormented rise of abolition in Andrew Jackson's America

Renowned historian Dickey meticulously revisits one of the ugliest times in American history, when violence was commonplace during the early days of the abolition movement, 1833--38. President Andrew Jackson, an antiabolitionist who proudly announced he had "bullets in his body" from gunfights, set the tone for the frequent and often mob-driven bloodshed aimed at Blacks and abolitionists. The abolitionists' de facto leader, William Lloyd Garrison, was even forced to flee for his life to England. But upon return, he did his best work for the cause through the publication of his journal, The Liberator. Dickey describes different ways the abolitionist movement changed. For instance, Theodore Weld, Elizur Wright, and Lewis Tappan, three "super orators," understood the importance of where they initiated campaigns. Wright and Tappan were convinced the Northeast held the most promise, so "They nudged and cajoled Weld at first, but failing that, resorted to hectoring him." Little wonder Weld wanted to operate in rural settings; he was the "most mobbed man in America." Dickey's fascinating history reminds readers how crucial social movements take extreme courage, persistence, and adaptability.

Historian Dickey (American Demagogue) delivers a colorful if uneven revisionist history of the abolitionist movement in the U.S. Between 1833 and 1838, Dickey contends, America endured "some of the worst violence the nation has ever seen," with drunken mobs of Andrew Jackson's nativist, pro-slavery supporters targeting immigrants, financial institutions, free Blacks, and abolitionists. Dickey explains how the abolitionist movement emerged out of the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening and delves into early tensions between Black leaders like David Walker, whose 1829 manifesto Appeal in Four Articles exhorted captive slaves to "kill or be killed," and white abolitionists who opposed slavery but were wary of racial amalgamation. Meanwhile, pro-slavery advocates used the specter of Nat Turner's 1831 slave revolt and anxieties over "interracial sex and marriage" to incite mob violence and further constrain the rights of free and enslaved Blacks. Dickey documents numerous outbreaks of racial violence, including the 1835 Snow Riot in Washington, D.C., and spotlights lesser-known African American abolitionists, including David Ruggles and Samuel Cornish. The portrait of Andrew Jackson is notably one-sided, however, portraying him as a conspiracist with a "bent toward violence" while underplaying the economic factors that contributed to his appeal among working-class whites. Still, this is an accessible and enlightening chronicle of a tumultuous period in American history. Agent: Adam Chromy, Movable Type Management. (Mar.)

A new history of the 1830s anti-slavery movement and the unprecedented violence with which it was met. Dickey focuses on several key abolitionist leaders, notably William Lloyd Garrison, easily the best-known figure of the movement's early years. But as the author shows, Garrison was hardly alone. While he was a pioneering voice, he had a number of supporters and rivals for the leading role in the movement. Among them, silk merchants Lewis and Arthur Tappan "generously funded the movement as part of their social gospel of evangelical Christianity." The brothers, write the author, "would go down in history as the money men behind the movement, but their role was much more pivotal." James Forten, a Philadelphia sailmaker, and his daughters were among the most prominent Black abolitionists of the era. As Dickey's title suggests, the movement had more than its share of opponents--not only Southerners who wanted to maintain the status quo, but also Northern business interests that had considerable stakes in their interactions with slaveholders as well as low-wage White workers who viewed African Americans as threats. Another major faction were colonizers, who supported returning ex-slaves to Africa, a program firmly opposed by Garrison and his allies. Dickey offers a well-documented history of how the abolition movement grew and changed over the years and of the race riots that swept Northern cities, including Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The author also examines a recurring issue for the abolitionists: whether or not to defend themselves against the violence of their opponents. Garrison remained firmly committed to nonviolence despite a "near-lynching" in Boston in 1835. Interestingly, while many of the abolitionists based their beliefs on Christian doctrine, Garrison eventually came to distrust religion as an unreliable ally. Others, worn out by the epic struggle, retired in favor of younger abolition fighters such as Frederick Douglass. A fascinating look at a slice of history that may be unfamiliar to many general readers. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.