The Color of Abolition: How a Printer, a Prophet, and a Contessa Moved a Nation Hardcover – February 8, 2022 by Linda Hirshman

Description

Author: Hirshman Linda

Package Dimensions: 29x229x454

Number Of Pages: 352

Release Date: 08-02-2022

Details: Product Description
The story of the fascinating, fraught alliance among Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Maria Weston Chapman—and how its breakup led to the success of America’s most important social movement

In the crucial early years of the Abolition movement, the Boston branch of the cause seized upon the star power of the eloquent ex-slave Frederick Douglass to make its case for slaves’ freedom. Journalist  William Lloyd Garrison promoted emancipation while Garrison loyalist Maria Weston Chapman, known as “the Contessa,” raised money and managed Douglass’s speaking tour from her Boston townhouse.

Conventional histories have seen Douglass’s departure for the New York wing of the Abolition party as a result of a rift between Douglass and Garrison. But, as acclaimed historian Linda Hirshman reveals, this completely misses the woman in power. Weston Chapman wrote cutting letters to Douglass, doubting his loyalty; the Bostonian abolitionists were shot through with racist prejudice, even aiming the N-word at Douglass among themselves. Through incisive, original analysis, Hirshman convinces that the inevitable breakup was in fact a successful failure.Eventually, as the most sought-after Black activist in America, Douglass was able to dangle the prize of his endorsement over the Republican Party’s candidate for President, Abraham Lincoln. Two years later the abolition of slavery—if not the abolition of racism—became immutable law.

Review
A rousing account of America’s one truly great crusade, studded with fascinating characters playing for the highest of stakes:  freedom.”
—Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
Margaret Fuller

“Linda Hirshman adroitly shows us that in the celebrated break up between Douglass and Garrison, a pivotal actor was Maria Weston Chapman. A brilliant but intrusive soul, Chapman stood watch over both men from a manager’s desk in Boston.  Beyond intrigue, though, this book provides a splendid lens into the nature of both the moral and political wings of abolitionism at their turbulent turning point.  The ideologies of antislavery emerge here from vivid portraits of these three fascinating and rivalrous characters.”
—​David W. Blight, Yale University, and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

“Viewing the abolitionist movement from a unique angle, Hirshman shows how the breakdown of the alliance among [activists Frederick Douglass, William Llloyd Garrison, and Maria Weston Chapman] was fueled in part by Douglass’ rising fame, burgeoning dissent among the nation’s political parties, and, not least, Weston Chapman’s aspersions about Douglass’ work ethic and character. A well-researched history of the fraught path to emancipation.”
—
​Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

LINDA HIRSHMAN is the author of
Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment
, and of the
New York Times best-selling
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World.