Thirty years before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation; the antislavery movement won its first victory in the British Parliament. On August 1; 1834; the Abolition of Slavery Bill took effect; ending colonial slavery throughout the British Empire. Over the next three decades; "August First Day;" also known as "West India Day" and "Emancipation Day;" became the most important annual celebration of emancipation among people of African descent in the northern United States; the British Caribbean; Canada West; and the United Kingdom and played a critical role in popular mobilization against American slavery. In Rites of August First; J. R. Kerr-Ritchie provides the first detailed analysis of the origins; nature; and consequences of this important commemoration that helped to shape the age of Anglo-American emancipation.Combining social; cultural; and political history; Kerr-Ritchie discusses the ideological and cultural representations of August First Day in print; oratory; and visual images. Spanning the Western hemisphere; Kerr-Ritchie's study successfully unravels the cultural politics of emancipation celebrations; analyzing the social practices informed by public ritual; symbol; and spectacle designed to elicit feelings of common identity among blacks in the Atlantic World. Rites of August First shows how and why the commemorative events changed between British emancipation and the freeing of slaves in the United States a generation later; while also examining the connections among local; regional; and international commemorations.While shedding light on an important black institution that has been long ignored; Rites of August First also contributes to the broader study of emancipation and black Atlantic identity. Its transnational approach challenges local and national narratives that have largely shaped previous investigations of these questions. Kerr-Ritchie shows how culture and community were truly political at this important historical moment and; most broadly; how politics and culture converge and profoundly influence each other.
#1185545 in Books Louisiana State University Press 2006-04-01 2006-04-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.98 x .73 x 6.16l; 1.07 #File Name: 0807131539360 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Ernie RobersonVery Pleased0 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Brief OverviewBy A. TreybigThe book was bought as a gift. I only skimmed the contents so I cannot review the book adequately. It appeared to be a complete record of Walker's Texas Division.6 of 12 people found the following review helpful. ...And we only hear about the Eastern Theater of the War...By R. K. OtholdI purchased this book a little over 2 years ago with the intention of preparing for the 2007 Bank's Grand Retreat (a 5 day Civil War Re-enactors' Immersion event in northwest Louisiana; replicating a segment of Bank's retreat back down the Red River after the Battle of Mansfield in 1864). Needless to say; I did myself an injustice...never got around to reading...So 2 years later it was my intention (again) to read it to prep for the same event in 2009 (named Into the Piney Woods)...Again I did myself an injustice by not reading this fine work.Lowe takes us from 1862 Hempstead; TX training sites; up through NE Texas into Arkansas; down into Louisiana; then back into Arkansas; then finally home to Hempstead; TX at war's end...I enjoyed this book immensely and wonder why everyone clamours over the big battles (i.e.; Gettysburg; Vickburg; Atlanta; etc.) without realizing how the War was fought at sites (with just as much sufferage)just up the road from Houston; TX; Little Rock; AR; and Shreveport; LA.This book should be required reading in 7th Grade Texas History to ensure children realize that "Yes; Texas was in the Civil War...and yes your kinfolk served in it".Excellent.
