John Adams, Slavery, and Race - by Arthur Scherr (Paperback)

About the Book

Providing the first full investigation of second U.S. president John Adams' attitudes toward slavery, blacks, and the Haitian Revolution, this iconoclastic study illuminates the inner and outer worlds of Adams for scholars and general readers.
John Adams was a Founding Father of the United States who not only played a key role in laying the foundation of the nation but is also highly regarded as a great speaker, thinker, lawyer, revolutionary, diplomat, vice president, and president. But was Adams an opponent of slavery and a believer in racial equality? The historical evidence points to the contrary.

This book is the first to discuss at any length John Adams's views on race, slavery, and slavery extension by examining his writings, politics, and diplomacy. Historian Arthur Scherr, an expert who is uniquely knowledgeable about Adams's views on slavery, race, and the Haitian Revolution, reveals Adams's attitudes toward slavery and race in and out of office, spotlighting his views on slavery during the American Revolution, his perspective regarding race as vice president and president of the United States, and his opinions in retirement.

Readers will be able to form their opinions based on factual documentation of Adams's statements and actions regarding the key events involving slavery and race during this period: the gradual emancipation of slaves; U.S. aid to Haiti, the only black-governed nation in the world, and to its Governor-General Toussaint Louverture in gaining its independence; and the U.S. government's decision to permit slavery in new states and territories formed from public lands such as the Old Northwest and the Louisiana Purchase.

• Supplies a knowledge of John Adams' views--information that reveals him as hardly a paragon in matters of racial equality--that will facilitate a more realistic appraisal of early American culture, politics, and diplomacy at a time when the dogma of "American exceptionalism" is under attack at U.S. universities and in the media
• Fills a major gap in our collective knowledge of Adams, a seminal figure in American history, correcting scholars' false assumptions, exposing flawed research, and disclosing a "darker side" of the great second U.S. president
• Reveals the real reasons John Adams assisted Toussaint Louverture and his black rebels in the Haitian Revolution

Book Synopsis

Providing the first full investigation of second U.S. president John Adams' attitudes toward slavery, blacks, and the Haitian Revolution, this iconoclastic study illuminates the inner and outer worlds of Adams for scholars and general readers.

John Adams was a Founding Father of the United States who not only played a key role in laying the foundation of the nation but is also highly regarded as a great speaker, thinker, lawyer, revolutionary, diplomat, vice president, and president. But was Adams an opponent of slavery and a believer in racial equality? The historical evidence points to the contrary.

This book is the first to discuss at any length John Adams's views on race, slavery, and slavery extension by examining his writings, politics, and diplomacy. Historian Arthur Scherr, an expert who is uniquely knowledgeable about Adams's views on slavery, race, and the Haitian Revolution, reveals Adams's attitudes toward slavery and race in and out of office, spotlighting his views on slavery during the American Revolution, his perspective regarding race as vice president and president of the United States, and his opinions in retirement.

Readers will be able to form their opinions based on factual documentation of Adams's statements and actions regarding the key events involving slavery and race during this period: the gradual emancipation of slaves; U.S. aid to Haiti, the only black-governed nation in the world, and to its Governor-General Toussaint Louverture in gaining its independence; and the U.S. government's decision to permit slavery in new states and territories formed from public lands such as the Old Northwest and the Louisiana Purchase.

Review Quotes

"Scherr's book is thoroughly documented, written in a style in which every sentence is charged with new information, and corrects several omissions and errors in earlier Adams scholarship--a remarkable contribution to early American history." --American Historical Review

"This book would work well in a graduate seminar on the early republic. The contentious introduction and conclusion will stimulate important discussions among budding historians while serving as a model for how to build and support arguments." --Journal of American History

About the Author