Neoabolitionism (race relations) facts for kids

A neoabolitionist (say "nee-oh-ab-oh-LISH-un-ist") is a term used to describe historians who study race relations. These historians are inspired by the spirit of the original abolitionists. The first abolitionists fought to end slavery in the mid-1800s.

Neoabolitionist historians especially write about African-American history. They focus on topics like slavery, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction Era. Just like the original abolitionists worked to give equal rights to Black people, these new historians work to show how important it is to have equal rights for all citizens. This includes the right to vote and other civil rights.

In the late 1900s, some historians started to focus on the lives of African Americans. They wanted to show how Black people were active in shaping their own communities. They were not just victims. Starting in the mid-1960s, a new group of historians began to change how we understood slavery. They also looked at Reconstruction, racial segregation, and Jim Crow laws in new ways. Some historians called this group "neoabolitionists," and some of them liked that name.

Early Ideas About Reconstruction

Many history books from the early 1900s were very critical of the abolitionists. They also had harsh views on the Reconstruction Era. Reconstruction was when the U.S. government tried to change the social system in the South after the Civil War.

For example, a group of historians called the Dunning School had a strong influence. They believed that African-American involvement in Reconstruction was bad. They said that Black lawmakers were not good at governing. They also claimed that these governments were very corrupt. This idea was shown in the movie The Birth of a Nation (1915).

However, some people had different ideas. In the 1800s, after Reconstruction, former abolitionists like Frederick Douglass spoke positively about its successes. They pointed to how African Americans gained civil rights and how more poor white people could vote.

Later, in the early 1900s, historians like W. E. B. Du Bois challenged the Dunning School. In his 1935 book, Black Reconstruction in America, Du Bois showed how Black and white people worked together. He highlighted the good things that came from Reconstruction governments. These included setting up public schools in the South for the first time. They also founded hospitals and other places to help people. Du Bois explained that higher taxes were needed to pay for these new improvements.

New Ways of Looking at Race and Slavery

Starting in the 1960s, historians began to write about slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction in new ways. They focused on the human progress that came from ending slavery and freeing enslaved people. Historians like James McPherson and Martin Duberman admired the abolitionists.

Throughout the late 1900s, historians like John Hope Franklin and Steven Hahn found evidence to disagree with the Dunning School. They showed that the Reconstruction era was not more corrupt than other times of big social change in American history.

John Hope Franklin argued that Reconstruction had many good parts. The most important was giving voting rights to African Americans. This included both those who were free before the war and those who had been enslaved. It also gave citizenship and civil rights to four million African Americans. Public schools were also started throughout the South, where they had not existed before. Franklin pointed to the founding of Howard and Fisk as major successes. These historically black colleges and universities educated many generations of students.

These historians also looked closely at slavery itself. They studied how ideas about the relationship between masters and enslaved people changed. They also explored the different ways enslaved people resisted. The growth of African-American communities, education, and political culture has been studied in great detail.

Historians argued that taking away voting rights and civil rights from African Americans after Reconstruction was a terrible form of corruption. They saw it as a violation of fair government. African Americans were kept out of politics and public life for many decades.

In his 1988 book, historian Eric Foner said that Reconstruction actually began in 1863. He stressed the importance of freeing enslaved people and the Emancipation Proclamation. His book, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, suggested that Reconstruction had not finished the job of giving equality and rights to all American citizens. This work continued into the 1900s. His book came out after the Civil Rights Movement had passed new laws. These laws helped enforce voting rights and equal treatment for African Americans.

How the Term "Neoabolitionist" Has Been Used

The term "neoabolitionist" has been used in different ways over time.

• In 1910, the new NAACP called itself a "New Abolition Movement." W. E. B. Du Bois and newspapers often used this term for the organization.
• In 1952, historian Kenneth M. Stampp described new historians who were rethinking slavery as "scholarly descendants of the northern abolitionists."
• In the early 1960s, many historians who believed in racial equality were called "neo-abolitionists." Many of them liked this description.
• Howard Zinn called activists in the SNCC the "new abolitionists" in his 1964 book about the group.
• In 1969, Don E. Fehrenbacher wrote that "today's neoabolitionist historians" often felt a connection to the original antislavery activists.
• In 1974, historian C. Vann Woodward noted that by the 1950s, a "neoabolitionist mood" was common among historians studying slavery.
• James M. McPherson's 1975 book, Abolitionist Legacy, used "neo-abolitionist" many times to describe activists and historians from the 1900s.
• In 2001, David W. Blight wrote that the "emancipationist vision" (the idea of freedom for all) was kept alive by Black people and a "fledgling neo-abolitionist tradition." This helped bring about changes in American society later on.
• In the 21st century, the term "neoabolitionist" is also used for people who fight against modern slavery. This includes victims from all over the world.
• In 2014, historian Yonatan Eyal said that the "neo-abolitionist school" of history helped more Americans see the Civil War as a fight for "a new birth of freedom."