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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence Hardcover - 1982

by Jeffrey Rossbach


From the publisher

The remarkable relationship among the six conspirators who aided John Brown in his famed 1859 raid at Harpers Ferry is dramatically exposed in this volume. Why did these six abolitionists, who were nominally pacifist, decide to subsidize an act of black violence? Jeffery Rossbach rejects the commonly held belief that Brown dominated them with his charismatic personality. Here he delves into the backgrounds and beliefs of the members of the Secret Six during their three-year involvement with the plan and gives us, for the first time, a revealing picture of the group's character. Rossbach identifies the set of racial and political assumptions at the core of the Committee's rationale. He demonstrates how the conspirators, particularly Parker and Higginson, fused their ideas about political violence with those of the Journalist James Redpath and some free black leaders in the north. Essentially, the Six believed that the condition of slavery had rendered the black man docile, pliant, and prone to collective behavior. If slaves rallied to Brown's insurrectionary banner, they reasoned, their violent acts would have a cathartic effect on the Afro-American character and social outlook. The conspirators felt that just as the willingness to fight for freedom formed the basis of the Anglo-American character, so a violent uprising to free slaves and kill white oppressors must serve as the black man's first step toward the assimilation of a new and more individualistic value system. That system would more closely match the one held by the democratic, industrial North. Surpassing previous studies by both conservative and revisionist historians, Rossbach shows how the secret committee's relationship with Brown was based upon their common social assumptions and personal aspirations. He suggests that they shared a system of beliefs that was emerging among urban professionals of the new industrial North. His work provides a fuller dimension to this key episode in American history.

Details

  • Title Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
  • Author Jeffrey Rossbach
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 312
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Pennsylvania Press Anniversary, Philadelphia
  • Date 1982-12-29
  • ISBN 9780812278590 / 0812278593
  • Weight 1.35 lbs (0.61 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.21 x 6.14 x 0.75 in (23.39 x 15.60 x 1.91 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1851-1899
    • Topical: Civil War
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 82060303
  • Dewey Decimal Code 973.711

About the author

Jeffery Rossbach is associate editor of The Black Abolitionist Papers at Florida State University.
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence (Anniversary...
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence (Anniversary Collection)

by Rossbach, Jeffrey

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University of Pennsylvania Press Anniversary Collection, 1982. 312 pp., Hardcover, fine in a very good dust jacket. - If you are reading this, this item is actually (physically) in our stock and ready for shipment once ordered. We are not bookjackers. Buyer is responsible for any additional duties, taxes, or fees required by recipient's country.
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Ambivalent Conspirators : John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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Ambivalent Conspirators : John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

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Ambivalent Conspirators : John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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Ambivalent Conspirators : John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

by Rossbach, Jeffrey

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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

by Rossbach, Jeffrey

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University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982. Hardcover. Near Fine. Ex-Library copy, a larger, sturdy book, purple cloth spine, light rose boards, very bright silver lettering on spine, 298 pages. (From Riverside Church Library, New York City) Ink stamp for library at bottom of first front end paper and on pages' top edge, a library envelope with no checkouts on reverse of final end paper. DJ beneath mylar, grayish background, purple-tinted illustration of John Brown kissing a black infant as he is taken from the courthouse. DJ has no library markings. Near Very Fine, considering it is ex-library.
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

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Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982. hardcover. very good/very good(-). 298 pages. 8vo, cloth-backed boards, d.w. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982. A very good copy--light foxing to outer edges, sticker residue on front pastedown--in a very good(-) wrapper, edgeworn with sunned spine, single black pen mark along right side of front wrapper.<br/> <br/>
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

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Ambivalent conspirators; John Brown, the secret six, and a theory of slave violence

Ambivalent conspirators; John Brown, the secret six, and a theory of slave violence

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Ambivalent Conspirators : John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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Ambivalent Conspirators : John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence

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Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, the Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence
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by Rossbach, Jeffrey

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