What does it take to be a citizen in the United States? What disqualifies one from citizenship? For African Americans living in “free states” and experiencing Jacksonian “democracy,” emancipation, and disenfranchisement, these questions were complicated by the growing influence of racial science on American religious, political, and legal thought in the years leading up the Civil War. Focusing on the Black press, this paper will explore how editors, authors, and even advertisers used the tools of enlightenment reason, science, and scripture to craft a dynamic discourse about Black humanity and citizenship that would inform not only the abolitionist movement but the larger efforts for African American rights during and after the Civil War.
25 янв 2024
