Jim Crow New York: A Documentary History of Race and Citizenship, 1777-1877

by David N. Gellman (Editor), David Quigley (Editor)

Overview

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title (2004)
In 1821, New York’s political leaders met for over two months to rewrite the state’s constitution. The new document secured the right to vote for the great mass of white men while denying all but the wealthiest African-American men access to the polls.
Jim Crow New York introduces students and scholars alike to this watershed event in American political life. This action crystallized the paradoxes of free black citizenship, not only in the North but throughout the nation: African Americans living in New York would no longer be slaves. But would they be citizens?
Jim Crow New York provides readers with both scholarly analysis and access to a series of extraordinary documents, including extensive excerpts from the resonant speeches made at New York’s 1821 constitutional convention and additional documents which recover a diversity of voices, from lawmakers to African-American community leaders, from newspaper editors to activists. The text is further enhanced by extensive introductory essays and headnotes, maps, illustrations, and a detailed bibliographic essay.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814731505
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2003
Pages:	353
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David N. Gellman is Associate Professor of History at DePauw University.

David Quigley is Associate Professor of History at Boston College.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	1
Part I	Slavery, Abolition, and Citizenship, 1777-1817	13
	Context	13
	Chronology	19
	Map	24
	Documents	25
A.	Franchise Provision, New York State Constitution, 1777	25
B.	Veto Message, 1785	30
C.	Anti-Abolition Article, 1785	33
D.	"Mungo Speaks," 1788	36
E.	Antislavery Orations, 1797 and 1798	39
F.	Gradual Abolition Act, 1799	52
G.	African American Political Oration, 1809	56
H.	An Act Regulating Black Suffrage, 1811	64
I.	Act Declaring 1827 as the End of Slavery in New York, 1817	67
Part II	The Convention of 1821 and the Politics of Disfranchisement	73
	Context	73
	Chronology	79
	Map	80
	Documents	81
J.	Connecticut Constitution Confirms Disfranchisement, 1818	81
K.	Resolution Opposing the Missouri Constitution, 1820	84
L.	Antiblack Article, National Advocate, 1821	87
M.	Extended Excerpts from the Convention of 1821	90
Part III	The Long Reconstruction, 1821-1877	201
	Context	201
	Chronology	207
	Map	211
	Documents	212
N.	First African American Newspaper, 1827	212
O.	Emancipation Addresses, 1827	218
P.	Address, African American State Convention, 1840	236
Q.	Excerpts from the Debate on Suffrage, New York State Constitutional Convention, 1846	249
R.	Land Reform Proposal, 1846	260
S.	Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls, 1848	265
T.	Anti-Property Qualification Pamphlet, 1860	271
U.	Report on Suffrage, New York State Constitutional Convention, 1867-1868	278
V.	Letter to the Editor: Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Sojourner Truth, 1867	286
W.	"Appeal to Christians," 1869	292
X.	Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 1870	295
Y.	Newspaper Coverage of First Equal Manhood Suffrage Election, 1870	300
Z.	Excerpts from Tilden Commission Report, 1877	307
	Bibliographic Essay	319
	Notes	331
	Index	343
	About the Editors	353

Editorial Reviews

"It would require a tremendous amount of time and expense to collect all the primary source material the authors have assembled and reprinted in this book. This in and of itself makes it a valuable resource for researchers."

New York History

"With so many document collections aimed at teaching scholars and students about slavery and race relations in the nineteenth-century South, it is refreshing and enlightening to read a collection that reminds us of the northern side of the story."

Michael Vorenberg

"Gellman and Quigley provide a unique perspective. While invaluable for scholars of slavery and NYC, most importantly, students will find an invaluable window onto democracy's history in the US."

Choice

"A superb combination of documents, commentary, and narrative history. Gellman and Quigley explore the complex world of race and citizenship in New York State where the long history of conflict, accommodation, reversal, and progress foreshadowed the national debate on racial equality. Jim Crow New York is equally valuable for a scholar's reference and for the classroom."

Lois E. Horton

"The documents (the editors) have assembled give us many voices, both white and black. Among whites there are pioneers, men of very good will and demagogues worthy of Jim Crow Mississippi. The black voices they present are not the predictable Frederick Douglass and, perhaps, Henry Highland Garnet. Without asserting the point, they demonstrate that many black people were trying to speak for themselves."

Slavery and Abolition