Symbols of Freedom : Slavery and Resistance Before the Civil War / Matthew J. Clavin.
Clavin, Matthew J., author.
2023
E441 .C593 2023
Available Online

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Title Symbols of Freedom : Slavery and Resistance Before the Civil War / Matthew J. Clavin.
Author Clavin, Matthew J., author.
ISBN 9781479823260
DOI https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479823260.001.0001
Published New York, NY : New York University Press, [2023]
Copyright ©2023
Language English
Language Note In English.
Description 1 online resource : 25 b/w illustrations
Other Standard Identifiers 10.18574/nyu/9781479823260.001.0001 doi
Call Number E441 .C593 2023
Dewey Decimal Classification 973.7/114
Summary How American symbols inspired enslaved people and their allies to fight for true freedomIn the early United States, anthems, flags, holidays, monuments, and memorials were powerful symbols of an American identity that helped unify a divided people. A language of freedom played a similar role in shaping the new nation. The Declaration of Independence's assertion "that all men are created equal," Patrick Henry's cry of "Give me liberty, or give me death!," and Francis Scott Key's "star-spangled banner" waving over "the land of the free and the home of the brave," were anthemic celebrations of a newly free people. Resonating across the country, they encouraged the creation of a republic where the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was universal, natural, and inalienable.For enslaved people and their allies, the language and symbols that served as national touchstones made a mockery of freedom. Deriding the ideas that infused the republic's founding, they encouraged an empty American culture that accepted the abstract notion of equality rather than the concrete idea. Yet, as award-winning author Matthew J. Clavin reveals, it was these powerful expressions of American nationalism that inspired forceful and even violent resistance to slavery.Symbols of Freedom is the surprising story of how enslaved people and their allies drew inspiration from the language and symbols of American freedom. Interpreting patriotic words, phrases, and iconography literally, they embraced a revolutionary nationalism that not only justified but generated open opposition. Mindful and proud that theirs was a nation born in blood, these disparate patriots fought to fulfill the republic's promise by waging war against slavery.In a time when the US flag, the Fourth of July, and historical sites have never been more contested, this book reminds us that symbols are living artifacts whose power is derived from the meaning with which we imbue them.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics text file PDF
Source of Description Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Aug 2023)
In EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2023 English
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2023
EBOOK PACKAGE Sociology 2023 English
EBOOK PACKAGE Sociology 2023
New York University Press Complete eBook-Package 2023
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Frontmatter
Contents
LIST OF FIGURES
Introduction: Hail Columbia
Part I. Contesting
1. The Flag
2. The Fourth
3. The Fifth
Part II. Fighting
4. Rebels
5. Disciples
6. Radicals
7. Revolutionaries
Epilogue: Fighting for Old Glory
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author

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