Contentious Liberties
American Abolitionists in Post-Emancipation Jamaica, 1834-1866
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Georgia Press
Published:15th Jun '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This insightful study explores the contrasting concepts of freedom between white evangelical abolitionists and Jamaican freed people, as seen in Contentious Liberties.
In Contentious Liberties, Kenny presents a thorough examination of the contrasting views of freedom held by white evangelical abolitionists and the freed people in Jamaica. By delving into this historical encounter, the author highlights the implications for both American and Jamaican narratives. The study reveals how liberated slaves resisted the imposition of white cultural norms and actively redefined their own understanding of freedom, showcasing their agency in the process.
The narrative begins with the Oberlin College mission to Jamaica in the 1830s, an ambitious initiative aimed at using British West Indies emancipation as a model for American abolitionist efforts. The mission, however, faced numerous challenges as white Americans sought to demonstrate that freed slaves could seamlessly integrate into the society that once enslaved them. Kenny argues that the anticipated outcomes of this “civilizing mission” were not realized, leading to a complex interplay of expectations and realities.
Kenny's research uncovers the frustrations experienced by white Americans who, intending to support the transition from slavery to a Christian and civic life, encountered liberated blacks who resisted conforming to Victorian ideals of family, gender, and religion. Through a creative analysis of historical sources, Contentious Liberties unpacks the assumptions of both sides, illustrating how the liberated individuals not only resisted but also reshaped the terms of their interactions with their American counterparts.
In this insightful book Kenny takes readers deep into the world of the American Missionary Association mission to Jamaica during the first thirty years after slavery. . . . With deft analysis of ideologies in action, Kenny tells the story of how these men and women from the American frontier town of Oberlin tried to actuate in Jamaican society their firm—almost rigid—beliefs about human nature. She also tells of the unforeseen, at times astonishing, consequences of their efforts.
* author of The Problem of Emancipation: The Caribbean Roots of the American Civil War *Contentious Liberties is nuanced and intelligible and adds considerably to the literature on emancipation and the meaning of freedom. The writing is sharp and the scholarly content significant.
* author of Mastery, Tyranny, and Desire: Thomas Thistlewood and His Slaves in the Anglo-Jamaican World *This book raises fascinating questions about how radical abolitionists focused on black independence had to adapt their mission given black Jamaicans’ own ideas and the economic realities of white land ownership.
In Contentious Liberties, Gale L. Kenny illuminates the difficulties American missionaries faced trying to convert former bondspeople to Anglo-American religion and culture in postemancipation Jamaica.
A welcome addition to the . . . literature on Christian missions in Jamaica . . . Kenny's work on the AMA is a major contribution.
* American Historical Review *Contentious Liberties fits into the scholarship on Atlantic and transnational studies, offering perspectives on the interaction between abolitionist and post-emancipation efforts in the U.S. and Caribbean.…For those interested in the history and present popularity of U.S. missionaries in the Western Hemisphere before and since, this book is essential.
* Florida Historical Quarterly *More than a historical sidebar about a West Indian place and people. It goes to the heart of struggles for freedom.
A fascinating, in-depth account of conflicts between disparate cultures in the 1800’s, Contentious Liberties is highly recommended as an excellent pick for international history shelves.
ISBN: 9780820333991
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 19mm
Weight: 567g
212 pages