Troubling the Pages of Historians
Troubling the Pages of Historians
African American Intellectuals and Historical Writing in the Early Republic, 1817–1837
This chapter explores some of the earliest manifestations of textual historical production among African American intellectuals. Building on, as well as critically engaging, the work of Wilson Jeremiah Moses and John Ernest, the author here explores early nineteenth-century black historicism in the broadest possible terms in order to showcase the complexity of historical styles and approaches of that period. The chapter views these early historical works as far more than vindicationist—a defense of black humanity against racist disparagement. They are more than contributionist in their focus on how African Americans have contributed to American society. Freemasonry played a role in these texts, as Joanna Brooks and Maurice Wallace have persuasively shown, but its influence is not adequate to explain the constant references in these texts to the ancient world, especially Africa.
Keywords: textual historical production, African American intellectuals, Wilson Jeremiah Moses, John Ernest, black historicism, Joanna Brooks, Maurice Wallace
North Carolina Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
