The Secret Six: John Brown and the Abolitionist Movement; including Notes; Bibliography; and Index; 375 pages. (First Edition; New York Times Book Co.; 1979. Second Edition; The Foundation for American Education; 1987; as The Secret Six: The Fool as Martyr. Third Edition; Uncommon Books; Seattle; Wash.; 1993; as The Secret Six: John Brown and the Abolitionist Movement.) Unlike previous biographies of John Brown; this is the first to look at the rich men who funded his attack on Harper's Ferry. It looks into their backgrounds and personalities; their associations with Emerson; Thoreau; and other Transcendentalists; and places them not on the fringe; but in the center of the Abolitionist movement. In the process; antebellum New England takes on a new and more interesting aspect than the whitewashes of the past. This is history as it was; not as it is taught by the winners of the Civil War. First published by Times Books in 1979; The Secret Six elicited the following comments (among others): "The author's thesis is that John Brown and the cabal of eminent Massachusetts clergymen; literati and wealthy businessmen; the Secret Six; who encouraged and financed him were pioneers in a use of terror that in our day has come to plague the world: the idea that killing even innocent people is moral if it serves a greater good." The New Yorker "...Scott's accomplishment is considerable; and worth studying; not only as a signal contribution to the bibliography of terrorism; but as a vivid and penetrating account of an awful phase of our history." Norman Corwin in The Los Angeles Times "Thanks to Otto Scott's energetic and intricate account of past delusions of righteous grandeur; terrorism may not in the future be so easy to rationalize away." Dr. Gordon M. Pradl in Chronicles of Culture "If Scott's thorough study of the halfï·“secret movement behind John Brown receives the attention it deserves . . . there will be less adulation; even in liberal and radical circles; of a 'reformer' as mad and merciless as any 20th century terrorist. And there should be some reassessment of the famous Northern abolitionists who made mad Brown their tool." Russell Kirk. "Among other distinctions; John Brown is the only known massï·“murderer in American history to be remembered as a national hero." M. Stanton Evans. Now an underground classic for its "incorrect" perspective but eminently correct historical accuracy; this is the definitive book on the exemplar of modern political terror (the practice of murdering helpless and innocent people to make a political point) and the physical origins of the Civil War.
#2611028 in Books 2014-03-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.26 x 6.44l; 1.61 #File Name: 0812245970352 pages
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. In Let Us Fight As Free Men: Black Soldiers ...By CustomerIn Let Us Fight As Free Men: Black Soldiers and Civil Rights; Christine Knauer; a postdoctoral research fellow at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen; Germany; thoroughly investigates the long; challenging; humiliating; and ultimately triumphant road to integration of the United States Armed Forces. Over eight chapters; from the Korean trenches to Capitol Hill; Knauer examines the struggle by relying on personal accounts; archives; editorials; columns; and letters; which poignantly reveal some of the truest feelings and motives of our political and military luminaries. The Korean War and the segregated South serve as the military and domestic panoramas. These lenses provide unique insight into the intersection of Jim Crowism and the military. The book’s only shortcoming; which Knauer concedes; is the limited narrative and space given to women. They are peripheral players; this is a story about masculinity.Serving in the military has been; and remains; a proud tradition for black Americans. Knauer’s research adequately reflects this pride and the complexity of the atmosphere from which this distinction and honor emanates. Given current political and social moods; it is a timely and cogent book. It is essential reading for all service members.- See more at: http://armypress.dodlive.mil/let-us-fight-as-free-men-black-soldiers-and-civil-rights/#sthash.e7yYt1kr.dpuf0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. WWII was a catalyst for the Civil Rights movementBy B. WolinskyThe service of African Americans in WWII was a major catalyst for the Civil Rights movement. Men who’d risked their lives fighting for the USA in Europe and Asia were no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens back home. They were coming back to a country that lauded the troops as heroes; but thanks to racism; they were getting shorted on the benefits. Unlike the veterans of WWI; however; they would not take it in good humor. This book uses great case studies to show how racial incidents in and after the war drove the movement for change. Truman’s forcible integration of the armed forces; for instance; was not simply a spur of the moment. A. Philip Randolph; the famous African American labor leader; denounced communism and backed the invasion of Korea. Randolph disliked communism; but he also wanted to get Truman to integrate the army further. He wanted to see an end to discrimination that was there despite the 1949 integration; he didn’t want non-white sailors being relegated to the kitchens; or the airmen being denied promotions. The blinding of Isaac Woodward is another example of a racial incident pushing the effort for integration. Woodward was an army veteran traveling in the south; when he was arrested over a verbal spat with a bus driver. Buses were segregated at the time; and the argument was probably over this African American soldier not wanting to sit in the back. For those of you that never heard the story; he was blinded by the police while in custody; and though tried in a Federal court; the officers were foiund not guilty and never punished for their crimes. The jury was composed of locals; and only white men were selected for jury duty at the time; so there wouldn’t be a fair trial. Much of the uproar had to do with the fact that Woodward was in uniform; and people wondered why Truman would tolerate the blinding of someone in the nation’s service. Truman didn’t tolerate it. But the president can only enforce the law; not make laws or interpret them. It would be the efforts of private citizens that brought about the end of racial discrimination in the service; not a government edict.
