John Hope Franklin series in African American history and culture

Examines Black culture and the meaning of democracy for African Americans, exploring the basis of their passions since World War I through the African American soldiers who fought in the war and those who supported back home.

"It may be difficult to imagine that a consequential electoral black politics evolved in the United States before the Civil War--as of 1860, the overwhelming majority of African Americans remained in bondage. Yet free black men, many of them escaped slaves, steadily increased their influence in U.S. electoral politics over the course of the early American republic. Despite efforts to disfranchise them, black men voted across much of the North, sometimes in numbers sufficient to swing elections. In this . . . book, Van Gosse offers a sweeping reappraisal of the formative era of American democracy from the Constitution's ratification through Lincoln's election, chronicling the rise of an organized, visible black politics focused on the quest for citizenship, the vote, and power within the free states"--Provided by publisher.

Chronicles the life of African-American activist, writer, publisher, and hydrotherapist David Ruggles, discussing his childhood, role in the abolitionist movement, place in the politics and society of New York, career accomplishments, and involvement in the Underground Railroad.