Unknown tongues : black women's political activism in the antebellum era, 1830-1860 / Gayle T. Tate.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tate, Gayle T.

Series:

Black American and diasporic studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American women--Political activity--Northeastern States--History--19th century.

African American women.

African American women--Political activity.

Race relations.

Politics and government.

Black nationalism.

History.

Industrialization--Social aspects.

City and town life.

Social movements.

Enslaved women.

Political participation.

Free African Americans.

Economic conditions.

Northeastern States.

African American women--Northeastern States--Economic conditions--19th century.

Free African Americans--Northeastern States--Politics and government--19th century.

Enslaved women--Political activity--History--19th century.

Social movements--Northeastern States--History--19th century.

City and town life--Northeastern States--History--19th century.

Industrialization--Social aspects--Northeastern States--History--19th century.

Industrialization.

Black nationalism--Northeastern States--History--19th century.

Northeastern States--Politics and government--19th century.

Northeastern States--Race relations.

Physical Description:

x, 290 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, [2003]

Summary:

Unknown Tongues examines the social and economic factors of northern industrialization, social reform, and black nationalism, all of which undergirded black women's political consciousness during the decades before the American Civil War. The linkages between black women's roles in the "culture of resistance" in slave communities and their transformations in the urban market economy fueled the development of black women's political consciousness. As community activists and then as abolitionists, black urban women organized and protested against slavery, racism, sexism, and its attendant ills. Driven by market forces of nascent capitalism, black women created broad-based protest responses to the white power structure.

Unknown Tongues explores the material realities that underpinned black women's political development as well as the transformative stages of their political consciousness and activity.

Contents:

Introduction: Theoretical Perspectives on Black Women's Political Activism 1

Part 1 Critical Passages

1 A Long Ways from Home: The Context for Oppression and Resistance 23

2 Troubled Waters: Invisible Boundaries of Resistance 40

Part 2 Defining Moments of Freedom

3 Weaving the Colors of Oppression: Black Women's Urban Resistance, the Market Economy, and the Cult of Domesticity 63

4 As Quiet as It's Kept: Black Women's Urban Economic Activity and Empowerment 100

Part 3 Collective Consciousness

5 Shaking the Tree of Liberty: Alienation and Activism 131

6 Hallowed Fire: The Gospel Politics of Black Female Evangelists 157

7 Rocking the Bastille: Black Women's Abolitionism 186

Conclusion: Sites of Change 215.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-273) and index.

ISBN:

0870136534

OCLC:

51223658