Young Abolitionists - by Michaël Roy (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

How children helped abolish slavery

During the antebellum period, several abolitionist figures, including William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of the Liberator; Susan Paul, an African American primary school teacher; Henry Clarke Wright, a white reformer; and Frederick Douglass, the internationally renowned activist, consistently appealed to the sympathies of children against slavery. In 1835, Garrison proclaimed, "If . . . we desire to see our land delivered from the curse of PREJUDICE and SLAVERY, we must direct our efforts chiefly to the rising generation." This rallying cry found a receptive audience and ignited action.

Despite their limited scholarly exploration, children occupied a crucial position within the US abolition movement. Through a reexamination of archival materials including antislavery newspapers, correspondence, and autobiographies, Young Abolitionists is the first book to center children's participation in the campaign to eradicate slavery in the United States.

Michaël Roy uncovers how young advocates-Black and white alike-confidently delivered antislavery speeches within their schools, enrolled in juvenile antislavery societies, and contributed to the editorial process of antislavery newspapers. They aided fugitive slaves, attended antislavery fairs, and engaged in activities commemorating John Brown's legacy. They even affixed their signatures to antislavery petitions, thus challenging the boundaries of their own citizenship.

Abolitionists saw childhood as a force for social change. With the help of parents and teachers, children acted in concrete ways against slavery and made a meaningful contribution toward its demise. Young Abolitionists honors their contributions and reminds us that children can-and must-be included in the fight for a better world.

Review Quotes

"Young Abolitionists succeeds in highlighting a dramatically understudied facet of both the history of childhood and the history of reform and abolitionism."-- "The Civil War Monitor"

"A concise yet wide-ranging historical study that could not be timelier...Roy's well-researched contribution to antislavery scholarship is so accessible that it also serves as a primer for the history of childhood and the history of reform in the antebellum northern US. Clear prose and apt illustrations will prompt specialists and general readers alike to see the abolitionist movement with fresh eyes."--David N. Gellman, author of Liberty's Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York

"An exciting and compelling scholarly intervention, one that reframes our understanding of the abolitionist movement in the United States...Roy demonstrates that children were not simply passive recipients of antislavery dogma. Rather, they were young people with deeply considered political points of view who actively shaped the culture of the American abolitionist movement."--Erica L. Ball, author of To Live an Antislavery Life: Personal Politics and the Antebellum Black Middle Class

"Impeccably researched, Young Abolitionists is essential reading for anyone studying the antislavery movement. In addition to chronicling what adults thought about children's capacities, Roy reveals how both Black and White children imagined their own moral agency, and how they helped to both generate and propagate antislavery ideas, through their work as readers, contributors, editors, and organizers. In short, this book expands the intellectual history of antislavery ideas in the transatlantic world."--Anna Mae Duane, Educated for Freedom: The Incredible Story of Two Fugitive Schoolboys who Grew Up to Change a Nation

"In this concise, well-researched, and engaging study, Michaël Roy provides a definitive history of juvenile abolitionism. He explains why adult antislavery activists reached out to young people and documents the large number of Black and white children who joined juvenile antislavery societies, signed petitions, read abolitionist literature and tried to convert adults to the cause. In the process, these young activists ignited a debate over the political competence of minors that continues to resonate in today's youth movements for climate and racial justice. This is essential reading for those interested in the history of childhood and the history of social reform."-- "Corinne Field, author of The Struggle for Equal Adulthood: Gender, Race, Age and the Fight for Citizenship in Antebellum America"

About the Author

Michaël Roy is Associate Professor of American studies at Université Paris Nanterre and a Fellow of the Institut Universitaire de France. He is the author of Fugitive Texts: Slave Narratives in Antebellum Print Culture, and the editor of Frederick Douglass in Context and Escapes from Cayenne: A Story of Socialism and Slavery in an Age of Revolution and Reaction.