African American Reformers in the Pre-Civil War North
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2004 Excellence is the highest form of resistance : African American reformers in the pre-Civil War north. Germaine, Etienne University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Etienne, Germaine,, "Excellence is the highest form of resistance : African American reformers in the pre- Civil War north." (2004). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1131. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1131 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXCELLENCE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF RESISTANCE AFRICAN AMERICAN REFORMERS IN THE PRE-CIVIL WAR NORTH A Dissertation Presented by GERMAINE ETIENNE Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 2004 History Department — EXCELLENCE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF RESISTANCE AFRICAN AMERICAN REFORMERS IN THE PRE-CIVIL WAR NORTH A Dissertation Presented by GERMA I NE ETIENNE Approved'pi vvv^u asCIO toIVJ ^1^1^style and^ontent by: Manisha Sinha, Qtitfc- Bruce Laurie, Member 4ohn HigginsonfMember osep^Skerrett, Member David Glassberg, Head History Department © Copyright by Germaine Etienne 2004 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My heartfelt appreciation goes out to my advisor and chair, Manisha Sinha, for her steadfast faith in this project. Her guidance and support have been invaluable. I also want to extend thanks to my committee members, Bruce Laurie, John Higginson and Joseph Skerrett for their very useful comments and suggestions. And special thanks for all those who encouraged me to stick with my writing and research. I could not have made it without you. iv ABSTRACT EXCELLENCE is THE HIGHEST FORM OF RESISTANCE' AFRICAN AMERICAN Rlil ORMl RS in THE PRE-CIVIL WAR NORTH SEPTEMBER 2004 OERMAINE ETIENNE, A B , EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE M A , UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph D.I UNIVERSITY OF MASSACH1 rSETTS AMHERST Directed by Professoi Manisha Sinha i ins dissertation depart! from currenl literature thai treats moral reform at ;i coniervative force in American history by focusing on the political intern ofblack reforn activity My overall goal is to dissociate black reform efforts from "middle class" thinking by describing how free blacks in Philadelphia and New York ( !ity soughl political change through moral improvemenl In i hapten on literary societies, educated ministers, Sunday schools and apprenticeships, i demostrate the relationship between moral reform and political action My premise is thai lacking political rights and access to more dired means of protest, free blacks embraced moral reform to a< hieve racial advancement, leiiismgto aeeepi theii inferioi status I iowever, most historians do nol regard moral reform ns heing n legitimate form ofprotesl in fact, antebellum black leaders often have been unfairly disparaged in the historical record foi theii nonviolent reform methods This dissertation calls foi a new paradigm thai merges moral reform with violent "political" action withoul assigning worth to eithei approach it ultimately reflects the need foi historians to allow Foi less V explicitly "political" forms of protest, especially among relatively powerless groups who were precluded from directly confronting authority This dissertation also joins with a growing body of literature that questions the presumed conservatism of "middle-class" Amer ica Since all social classes are historically constructed, they do not possess a predetermined or fixed politics. vi ( ONTI NTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 MORALITY & THE "MIDDLE-CLASS" BLACK POLITICAL RL FORMERS 7 The Origins of Black Moral Reform 9 The Politics of Reform Ideology 74 Moral Reform and "Resistance" 3 6 The Social Anatomy of the Free Black Community 42 Conclusion 2. "KNOWLEDGE IS LIGHT KNOWLEDGE IS POWER": BLACK LITERARY SOCIETIES AND THE BANNEKER INSTITUTE 54 Black Literary Societies 55 The Banneker Institute 54 Literature and "The Elite" 72 Conclusion 78 3 "UNLETTERED CLERGY" THE PUSH FOR AN EDUCATED MINISTRY IN THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 79 The Controversy Over an Educated Clergy 83 Daniel A. Payne and the African Methodist Episcopal Church 93 Postscript 105 Conclusion 107 4 "LITERACY OR CONVERSION?" FREE BLACK INVOLVEMENT IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL MOVEMENT 109 Black Participation in the Sunday School Movement Ill I iteracy Versus Conversion 1 15 Racism and White Sunday School Unions 1 19 Black Sunday Schools 128 • VII Conclusion 140 5. "A SPECIES OF SLAVERY": INDENTURED CHILDREN OF BLACKS BORN FREE Apprenticeships Through Antislavery Societies Indentured Servants Length of Service and Treatment Conclusion CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY viii INTRODUCTION The rootl Ofthe early nineteenth century moral reform movement have been effectively tied to the advent of industrialization and the need foi northern capitalists to create a new labor discipline Tins dommant interpretation emphasizes the soc.al control objectives of employers who promoted hard work, thrifl and sobriety, or "middle-class" morality, to regulate the behavior of intractable workers A related theory regards the movement as a response to a decline m moral values caused by rapid Urbanization, and the concomitant need to uphold virtue and self-restraint to sustain republicanism A convincing body of evidence supports both explanations However, the historical stress on social control and manipulated of the masses does not address how marginalized groups used moral reform as a means of empowerment This dissertation departs from current literature that treats moral reform as a conservative force in American history by focusing on the political nature of black reform activity My overall purpose is to dissociate black reform efforts from "middle- class" thinking My premise is that, notwithstanding social cleavages, black class divisions were attenuated throughout the pie-Civil War period because all northern blacks were the targets of racism with little Opportunity for social advancement l or the most part, they did not comprise a substantial "middle" layer of ailisans and mechanics; nor did they enjoy the advantages of white patronage like then southern counter parts The abolition of slavery also undermined a potential source of class divisions in northern free black communities liven "middle-class" northern blacks were excluded from practicing the moie lucrative trades and from entering white establishments, and they seldom were employed in a supervisory capacity While black rcloimeis often did I possess more wealth and education than the tree black majority, they simply do not fit our customary understanding of "middle-class ' status m terms of income or attm.de. This study thus speaks to the complexities of social class identity and joins with a growing body of literature that calls for a concept of class that is more flexible Historian Robert Johnston stresses this point when he refers to "different kinds of middle classes' in America. He sees "class" as a dynamic process created by a given set of historical forces, maintaining "if people are genuinely making their own history, they are making their own classes as well " Otherwise, you will find "roughly the same working class" operating everywhere.' His observation is especially relevant to the topic at hand In a very real sense, the black "middle-class" was the working class insofar as many "middle-class" blacks performed manual labor, practicing industry, frugality and sobriety to avoid destitution. This reality does not necessarily reflect the internalization of values antithetical to their interests In addition, the desire of a racially proscribed group to enhance their degraded condition should not be seen as a "middle-class" aspiration. This association only undercuts the political intent of black reform activity, and confuses black reformers' quest for equality with a longing for "middle-class" standing. Too often, black moral reform is simply seen as an extension of the broader reform movement and not adequately examined within its own context Specifically, the so-called bourgeois values of hard work, thrift and sobriety assumed a social significance for free blacks that they did not assume for whites One might even say i Robert Johnston. The Radical Middle Class: Populist Democracy and the Question of Capitalism in Progressive Era Portland (Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2003) 13. 2 that free blacks were operating under a moral handicap. Writing in the early decades of the twentieth century, W. E. B. DuBois noted that there was a deep seated feeling in the minds of many that the "black problem" in America was primarily a matter of morality, and that the real basis of racism in the United States was the fact that blacks manifested 2 a total disregard for private property, truthfulness and sexual mores. One hundred years earlier, similar allegations figured prominently in scientific theories concerning innate racial inferiority and fueled efforts to deport free blacks out of the country. Indeed, one of the most powerful arguments made by slaveholders against general emancipation