Race, Slavery, and Liberalism in Nineteenth-Century American Literature

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Cambridge University Press, Aug 17, 2006 - Literary Criticism
Moving boldly between literary analysis and political theory, contemporary and antebellum US culture, Arthur Riss invites readers to rethink prevailing accounts of the relationship between slavery, liberalism, and literary representation. Situating Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Frederick Douglass at the center of antebellum debates over the person-hood of the slave, this 2006 book examines how a nation dedicated to the proposition that 'all men are created equal' formulates arguments both for and against race-based slavery. This revisionary argument promises to be unsettling for literary critics, political philosophers, historians of US slavery, as well as those interested in the link between literature and human rights.

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Contents

Section 1
30
Section 2
32
Section 3
45
Section 4
84
Section 5
102
Section 6
111
Section 7
119
Section 8
127
Section 9
136
Section 10
159
Section 11
164
Section 12
169
Section 13
179

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Page 34 - But if the negro is a man, is it not to that extent a total destruction of self-government to say that he too shall not govern himself ? When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than selfgovernment— that is despotism. If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that "all men are created equal...
Page 168 - Earlier in life, Hester had vainly imagined that she herself might be the destined prophetess, but had long since recognized the impossibility that any mission of divine and mysterious truth should be confided to a woman stained with sin, bowed down with shame, or even burdened with a life-long sorrow.
Page 32 - For one, I am opposed to negro citizenship in any and every form. I believe this government was made on the white basis. I believe it was made by white men, for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever...
Page 27 - SLAVERY is so vile and miserable an estate of man, and so directly opposite to the generous temper and courage of our nation, that it is hardly to be* conceived that an " Englishman," much less a " gentleman,
Page 101 - Whoever visits some estates there, and witnesses the goodhumored indulgence of some masters and mistresses, and the affectionate loyalty of some slaves, might be tempted to dream the oft-fabled poetic legend of a patriarchal institution, and all that ; but over and above the scene there broods a portentous shadow, — the shadow of law.
Page 177 - They were unlike the specimens of their race whom we are accustomed to see at the North, and, in my judgment, were far more agreeable. So rudely were they attired, — as if their garb had grown upon them spontaneously, — so picturesquely natural in manners, and wearing such a crust of primeval simplicity (which is quite polished away from the northern black man), that they seemed a kind of creature by themselves, not altogether human, but perhaps quite as good, and akin to the fauns and rustic...
Page 103 - No! no! no! my soul an't yours, Mas'r ! You haven't bought it — ye can't buy it ! It's been bought and paid for by One that is able to keep it. No matter, no matter, you can't harm me !" "I can't", said Legree, with a sneer; "we'll see — we'll see! Here Sambo, Quimbo, give this dog such a breakin' in as he won't get over this month!

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