Samuel Ringgold Ward: A Life of Struggle

by R.J.M. Blackett

The rediscovery of a pivotal figure in Black history and his importance and influence in the struggle against slavery and discrimination
 
“A masterful biography. . . . Ward’s struggles to find freedom, equality, peace, and belonging are still shared by many African Americans today.”—Kellie Carter Jackson, The Nation
 
Born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817–c. 1869) escaped enslavement and would become a leading figure in the struggle for Black freedom, citizenship, and equality. He was extolled by his contemporary Frederick Douglass for his “depth of thought, fluency of speech, readiness of wit, logical exactness.” Until now, his story has been largely untold.
 
Ward, a newspaper editor, Congregational minister, and advocate for the temperance movement, was considered one of the leading orators of his time. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 he fled to Canada, where he lectured widely to improve conditions for formerly enslaved people who had settled there. Ward then went to Britain as an agent of the Canadian Antislavery Society and published his influential book Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro . He never returned to the United States, and he died in obscurity in Jamaica.
 
Despite Ward’s prominent role in the abolitionist movement, his story has been lost because of the decades he spent in exile. In this book, R. J. M. Blackett brings light to Ward’s life and his important role in the struggle against slavery and discrimination, and to the personal price he paid for confronting oppression.

Genres: Biography

248 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

About the author

R. J. M. Blackett is the Andrew Jackson Professor of History at Vanderbilt University and the author of several books about nineteenth-century history.

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samuel Ringgold Ward: A Life of Struggle is the first book published in Yale University Press's Black Lives series whose goal is "to tell the fullest range of stories about the both notable and overlooked Black figures who profoundly shaped world history".

Samuel Ringgold Ward was a historical figure with which I was not familiar. In this book, R. J. M. Blackett chronicles Ward's life from being born into slavery in Eastern Shore Maryland to his mysterious death in Jamaica. Throughout his life, Ward was a fighter against slavery, anti-Black hate, and racism in Christianity. Like his contemporary Frederick Douglass, Ward was an abolitionist, preacher, and powerful orator. The only difference between the two is that Ward left America behind, moving to Canada and Britain where he continued his fight against slavery.

Blackett has written a well-researched book on Ward's life. His "struggle" included his fight against slavery and racism but also it was a more personal one, it was a life-long fight against financial ruin, one in which he lost. When I finished the book I was left wanting for more because Ward's life ended so mysteriously. No one definitively knows when and where in Jamaica he died, he simply vanished. I find this to be a sad end to a life, especially for someone who had such an influential role in history. This is definitely a book to read if you want to learn more about a more obscure figure in Black history. Outside of Douglass, other historical figures make cameo appearances such as William and Ellen Craft, Henry Highland Garnet, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting and nuanced account of the life of a little-known figure of the anti-slavery movement.

I particularly enjoyed that Blackett avoided going into conjectures to fill the blanks as there were lengths of Ward's life that were lost to history. The tone is a little dry at times but overall it's an easy to read account of a complex life.

Ward was seemingly a strong believer in what we would today call respectability politics, I can't help but wonder if he truly believed or if that was just the palatable and somewhat safer facade he could present, especially towards the end when for all his efforts he led a life of struggle. This biography goes to show that no movement is perfectly united in methods and ideas and that intestine squabbles are always going to be part of any social movements no matter how just and important they are. This book also reminds us, possibly entirely unintentionally, through its attention to depicting Ward in as realistic and unidealized way as possible that one does not have to be perfect to contribute to the advancement of a social movement, something I found quite refreshing.

4.5 rounded up.

I received an eARC of this book from Yale University Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Savannah Elmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this (audio) book in anticipation of taking part in a book club. I did enjoy hearing a bit more about the time period, as I like most people in US public school have been taught that basically slavery was abolished overnight, which isn't the case at all. I did however find the book a bit hard to follow sometimes, partly because of the number of names to keep track of, but also because of the format of the book itself - I found it a bit tough to regularly listen to a 2 hour chapter and it didn't seem to have any natural pauses or sections within to pause and resume later.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting to read about on a little known Black abolitionist. Similar response after reading Master Slave Husband Wife: glad that more of these important people’s lives are getting the attention they deserve.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.