African Or American Black Identity And Political Activism In New York City 17841861 Leslie M Alexander by Leslie M. Alexander 9780252078538, 0252078535 instant download after payment.

As Alexander reveals, conflicts over early Black political strategy foreshadowed critical ideological struggles that would bedevil the Black leadership for generations to come. Initially, Black leaders advocated racial uplift through a sense of communalism and connection to their African heritage. Yet by the antebellum era, Black activists struggled to reconcile their African identity with a growing desire to gain American citizenship. Ultimately, this battle resulted in competing agendas; while some leaders argued that the Black community should dedicate themselves to moral improvement and American citizenship, others began to consider emigrating to Africa or Haiti. In the end, the Black leadership resolved to assert an American identity and to expand their mission for full equality and citizenship in the United States. This decision marked a crucial turning point in Black political strategy, for it signaled a new phase in the quest for racial advancement and fostered the creation of a nascent Black Nationalism.