Rethinking American Emancipation

William A. Link is Richard J. Milbauer Professor of History at the University of Florida. His books include Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia; Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism; Atlanta, Cradle of the New South: Race and Remembering in the Civil War's Aftermath; and Southern Crucible: The Making of the American South. James J. Broomall is Director of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War and Assistant Professor in the History Department at Shepherd University. A contributor to Creating Citizenship in the Nineteenth-Century South and Civil War History, Broomall's writings have also appeared in A Companion to the American Civil War in the Journal of the Civil War Era.

• Introduction William A. Link and James Broomall; Part I. Claiming Emancipation: 1. A universe of flight Yael Sternhell; 2. Force, freedom, and the making of emancipation Greg Downs; 3. Military interference in elections as an influence on abolition William A. Blair; Part II. Contesting Emancipation: 4. 'One pillar of the social fabric may still stand firm': bluegrass marriage in the emancipation era Allison Fredette; 5. Axes of empire: race, region, and the 'greater Reconstruction' of federal authority after emancipation Carole Emberton; 6. Fear of reenslavement: black political mobilization in response to the waning of Reconstruction Justin Behrend; Part III. Remembering Emancipation: 7. African Americans and the long emancipation in New South Atlanta William A. Link; 8. 'Washington, Toussaint, and Bolivar, the glorious advocates of liberty': black internationalism and reimagining emancipation Paul Ortiz; 9. Remembering the abolitionists John Stauffer; Epilogue: emancipation and the nation Laura F. Edwards.

'Rethinking American Emancipation introduces new scholarly perspectives on the black freedom struggle and expands our understanding of emancipation in the context and aftermath of the American Civil War. Highlighting the ways in which emancipation was claimed, contested, and remembered, this terrific collection is a must-read for anyone interested in slavery and freedom. Its provocative and original arguments establish new standards in the field that will inform scholarly debates for years to come.' Crystal N. Feimster, Yale University, Connecticut