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Remaking the Republic: Black Politics and the Creation of American Citizenship
A compelling and comprehensive history of black citizenship in the nineteenth century
Citizenship in the nineteenth-century United States was an ever-moving target. The Constitution did not specify its exact meaning, leaving lawmakers and other Americans to struggle over the fundamental questions of who could be a citizen, how a person attained the status, and the particular privileges citizenship afforded. Indeed, as late as 1862, U.S. Attorney General Edward Bates observed that citizenship was "now as little understood in its details and elements, and the question as open to argument and speculative criticism as it was at the founding of the Government."
Black people suffered under this ambiguity, but also seized on it in efforts to transform their nominal freedom. By claiming that they were citizens in their demands for specific rights, they were, Christopher James Bonner argues, at the center of creating the very meaning of American citizenship. In the decades before and after Bates's lament, free African Americans used newspapers, public gatherings, and conventions to make arguments about who could be a citizen, the protections citizenship entailed, and the obligations it imposed. They thus played a vital role in the long, fraught process of determining who belonged in the nation and the terms of that belonging.
Remaking the Republic chronicles the various ways African Americans from a wide range of social positions throughout the North attempted to give meaning to American citizenship over the course of the nineteenth century. Examining newpsapers, state and national conventions, public protest meetings, legal cases, and fugitive slave rescues, Bonner uncovers a spirited debate about rights and belonging among African Americans, the stakes of which could determine their place in U.S. society and shape the terms of citizenship for all Americans.
Citizenship in the nineteenth-century United States was an ever-moving target. The Constitution did not specify its exact meaning, leaving lawmakers and other Americans to struggle over the fundamental questions of who could be a citizen, how a person attained the status, and the particular privileges citizenship afforded. Indeed, as late as 1862, U.S. Attorney General Edward Bates observed that citizenship was "now as little understood in its details and elements, and the question as open to argument and speculative criticism as it was at the founding of the Government."
Black people suffered under this ambiguity, but also seized on it in efforts to transform their nominal freedom. By claiming that they were citizens in their demands for specific rights, they were, Christopher James Bonner argues, at the center of creating the very meaning of American citizenship. In the decades before and after Bates's lament, free African Americans used newspapers, public gatherings, and conventions to make arguments about who could be a citizen, the protections citizenship entailed, and the obligations it imposed. They thus played a vital role in the long, fraught process of determining who belonged in the nation and the terms of that belonging.
Remaking the Republic chronicles the various ways African Americans from a wide range of social positions throughout the North attempted to give meaning to American citizenship over the course of the nineteenth century. Examining newpsapers, state and national conventions, public protest meetings, legal cases, and fugitive slave rescues, Bonner uncovers a spirited debate about rights and belonging among African Americans, the stakes of which could determine their place in U.S. society and shape the terms of citizenship for all Americans.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published March 20, 2020
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 22, 2023
I learned so much reading this book, and it honestly changed the way that I will think about antebellum America forever. As someone who grew up just north of Boston, I never knew that Black Bostonians celebrated Crispus Attucks day throughout the 1850’s as a way to advocate for abolition and black citizenship (Perhaps it should be celebrated again).
Additionally, I appreciated the following:
1. Black Americans have always been the first, and most powerful voice advocating for equal rights. They were never the “recipient “ of rights.
2. Black Americans disagreed about what an America without slavery would look like, or if it was even possible. Nothing was ever inevitable, and it still isn’t.
3. White people who oppress others have always described themselves as an oppressed minority and should not be trusted.
So, why 4 stars and not 5? While it was relatively short it was dense and difficult to read. Had I read this in a graduate history course and discussed it with others chapter by chapter it may have earned 5. Still, I’m very glad that I read it and I hope that a friend does soon so we can discuss the ideas presented.
Additionally, I appreciated the following:
1. Black Americans have always been the first, and most powerful voice advocating for equal rights. They were never the “recipient “ of rights.
2. Black Americans disagreed about what an America without slavery would look like, or if it was even possible. Nothing was ever inevitable, and it still isn’t.
3. White people who oppress others have always described themselves as an oppressed minority and should not be trusted.
So, why 4 stars and not 5? While it was relatively short it was dense and difficult to read. Had I read this in a graduate history course and discussed it with others chapter by chapter it may have earned 5. Still, I’m very glad that I read it and I hope that a friend does soon so we can discuss the ideas presented.
Displaying 1 of 1 review