An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans

Revised and Updated Edition

Lydia Maria Child

Edited by Carolyn L. Karcher

This revised and updated edition is enhanced by Carolyn L. Karcher’s illuminating introduction, a chronology of Child’s life, and a list of books for further reading.

Published in Boston in 1833, Lydia Maria Child’s An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans provided the abolitionist movement with its first full-scale analysis of race and enslavement. Controversial in its own time, the Appeal surveyed the institution of slavery from historical, political, economic, legal, racial, and moral perspectives and advocated for the immediate emancipation of the enslaved without compensation to their enslavers. By placing American slavery in historical context and demonstrating how slavery impacted—and implicated—Americans of all regions and races, the Appeal became a central text for the abolitionist movement that continues to resonate in the present day.

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Cover design by adam b. bohannon
Cover art by H. Thomson, A Slave Praying, 1833. CC by-SA 4.0.

Preface to the Revised Edition

Preface to the First Edition and Acknowledgments

Chronology of Lydia Maria Child

Introduction

Notes to the Introduction

Suggestions for Further Reading

AN APPEAL IN FAVOR OF THAT CLASS OF AMERICANS CALLED AFRICANS

Preface

Chapter I
Brief History of Negro Slavery. Its Inevitable Effect upon All Concerned in It

Chapter II
Comparative View of Slavery, in Different Ages and Nations

Chapter III
Free Labor and Slave Labor.—Possibility of Safe Emancipation

Chapter IV
Influence of Slavery on the Politics of the United States *br>

Chapter V
Colonization Society, and Anti-Slavery Society

Chapter VI
Intellect of Negroes

Chapter VII
Moral Character of Negroes*br>

Chapter VIII
Prejudices against People of Color, and Our Duties in Relation to This Subject

Metadata

isbn
978-1-62534-773-2 (paper)
978-1-68575-046-6 (webPDF)
publisher
University of Massachusetts Press
publisher place
Amherst & Boston

Citable Link
TO COME
This electronic version has been made freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, which permits noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction provided the author and University of Massachusetts Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

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