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"An arresting book that juxtaposes major and minor antebellum texts to develop its own democratic discourse. Michael Bennett writes with verve and brio, and offers some juicy surprises."—David Leverenz, University of FloridaEver since the hallowed statement, "All men are created equal," was penned in the Declaration of Independence, it has become a historical tenet that freedom and equality were brought to American shores by the so-called Founding Fathers. In this path-breaking study, Michael Bennett departs from tradition to argue that the democratic ideal of equality and the actual ways in which it has been practiced are grounded less in the fledgling government documents written by a handful of white men than in the actions and writings of the radical abolitionists of the nineteenth century. Bringing together key texts of both African American and European American authors, Democratic Discourses shows the important ways that abolitionist writing shaped a powerful counterculture within a slave-holding society. Bennett offers fresh new analysis through unusual pairings of authors, including Frederick Douglass with Henry David Thoreau, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper with Walt Whitman, and Margaret Fuller with Sojourner Truth. These rereadings avoid the tendency to view antebellum writing as a product primarily of either European American or African American influences and, instead, illustrate the interconnections of white and black literature in the creation and practice of democracy.Drawing on discourses about race, the body, gender, economics, and aesthetics, this unique study encourages readers to reconsider the reality and roots of freedoms experienced in the United States today.
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Democratic Discourses
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Democratic Discourses Th e R ad i cal A bol i t i on M ove m e nt and A nte b e l lum Ame rican Lite rature
M i c ha e l B e nnet t
Rutge r s Unive r sity Pre ss New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bennett, Michael, 1962– Democratic discourses : the radical abolition movement and antebellum American literature / Michael Bennett. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–8135–3572–7 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0–8135–3573–5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. American literature—19th century—History and criticism. 2. Slavery in literature. 3. American literature—African American authors—History and criticism. 4. Politics and literature—United States—History—19th century. 5. Literature and society— United States—History—19th century. 6. Radicalism—United States—History—19th century. 7. African Americans—Intellectual life—19th century. 8. Abolitionists—United States—Intellectual life. 9. Antislavery movements in literature. 10. African Americans in literature. 11. Radicalism in literature. I. Title. PS217.S55B46 2005 810.9’3552—dc22 2004016423 British Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright © 2005 by Michael Bennett All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Manufactured in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to my parents, Margery Harder Bennett and Edward Bennett.
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Acknowledgments
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Introduction
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Democratic Discourses: Visiting the National Anti-Slavery Bazaar
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Bodily Democracy: Frances Ellen Watkins and Walt Whitman Sing the Body Electric