Navigating Liberty - (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) by John Cimprich (Hardcover)

About the Book

"As thousands of African Americans freed themselves from slavery during the American Civil War, they launched the major social change of emancipation. Hundreds of northern antislavery reformers responded by working with them in the federally occupied South. The formerly enslaved Black refugees generally could bring little or no property to help them build a free life but could contribute labor and skills. They maintained pressure for new privileges. The relief workers, especially when organized by aid associations and serving under military personnel charged with supervising the freedom seekers, could draw upon more resources and exert some influence on programs.The two groups brought views and practices from their backgrounds, which could help or trouble the transition out of slavery. Enslaved Blacks had learned to act with independent-mindedness and wariness when dealing with whites. They resented the northerners' preconceptions and attempts to control the transition, especially the use of force. Some disgruntled formerly enslaved Blacks even evaded or opposed programs created for them. Conflicts occasionally led to program modifications but frequently moved Blacks to seek more autonomy. Still, working together did result in some accomplishments. In an exhaustive analysis of that interaction, John Cimprich shows how the unusual circumstances opened new possibilities, spawned social movements for change, generated challenges, and produced limited results. His work is the first comprehensive study of the two groups' collaboration and conflict, adding an essential chapter to the history of slavery's end in the United States. Cimprich suggests that federal policy affected much of that interaction but that individuals' attitudes also played a key role. While Blacks saw themselves as equal humans, only a minority of white reformers shared that view. Over time, most Black refugees came to appreciate the reformers' idealism and charity while maintaining a degree of distance because of reformers' critical views. In the end, both groups' ongoing efforts to gain formerly enslaved Blacks new privileges ultimately led to social change. Cimprich's study is sure to be of interest to historians of slavery and the Civil War"--

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Phi Alpha Theta Best Subsequent Book Award

When thousands of African Americans freed themselves from slavery during the American Civil War and launched the larger process of emancipation, hundreds of northern antislavery reformers traveled to the federally occupied South to assist them. The two groups brought views and practices from their backgrounds that both helped and hampered the transition out of slavery. While enslaved, many Blacks assumed a certain guarded demeanor when dealing with whites. In freedom, they resented northerners' paternalistic attitudes and preconceptions about race, leading some to oppose aid programs--included those related to education, vocational training, and religious and social activities--initiated by whites. Some interactions resulted in constructive cooperation and adjustments to curriculum, but the frequent disputes more often compelled Blacks to seek additional autonomy.

In an exhaustive analysis of the relationship between the formerly enslaved and northern reformers, John Cimprich shows how the unusual circumstances of emancipation in wartime presented new opportunities and spawned social movements for change yet produced intractable challenges and limited results. Navigating Liberty serves as the first comprehensive study of the two groups' collaboration and conflict, adding an essential chapter to the history of slavery's end in the United States.

Review Quotes

"Cimprich explores the complex interactions between freed African Americans and northern philanthropists in the South during the Civil War, sheding light on the fraught relationship between these two groups, as African Americans often harbored mistrust toward reformers due to their paternalistic policies and racist outlooks. . . . Cimprich offers a nuanced and detailed examination of northern reformers' and African Americans' wartime efforts to implement their conception of freedom. This book is a welcome addition to the study of slavery and the Civil War era."--Journal of Southern History

"Cimprich delivers a thoroughly explored and sensitively analyzed examination of the complicated interaction of southern African Americans emerging from slavery and northern philanthropists who attempted to assist them during the Civil War. His book details how freedpeople's lofty aspirations collided with well-intentioned but sometimes unenlightened visions that whites held about the postwar racial order."--John R. Kaufman-McKivigan, editor of The Frederick Douglass Papers and author of Forgotten Firebrand: James Redpath and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America

"John Cimprich has produced a deeply researched, sophisticated, and clearly written study of the relationship between white northern antislavery activists and freedom-seeking African Americans during the American Civil War. This book will be important to anyone interested in race relations, the Civil War era, and African American history."--Stanley Harrold, author of Subversives: Antislavery Community in Washington, D.C., 1828-1865

About the Author

John Cimprich is retired professor of history at Thomas More University and author of Slavery's End in Tennessee, 1861-1865 and Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory.