516 pages / 6.12 x 9.25 inches / None
History / American History | History / United States - 19th Century | Political Science / Political Parties | Social Studies / Slavery Studies
In early 1840, abolitionists founded the Liberty Party as a political outlet for their antislavery beliefs. A mere eight years later, bolstered by the increasing slavery debate and growing sectional conflict, the party had grown to challenge the two mainstream political factions in many areas. In The Liberty Party, 1840–1848, Reinhard O. Johnson provides the first comprehensive history of this short-lived but important third party, detailing how it helped to bring the antislavery movement to the forefront of American politics and became the central institutional vehicle in the fight against slavery.
As the major instrument of antislavery sentiment, the Liberty organization was more than a political party and included not only eligible voters but also disfranchised African Americans and women. Most party members held evangelical beliefs, and as Johnson relates, an intense religiosity permeated most of the group’s activities. He discusses the party’s founding and its national growth through the presidential election of 1844; its struggles to define itself amid serious internal disagreements over philosophy, strategy, and tactics in the ensuing years; and the reasons behind its decline and merger into the Free Soil coalition in 1848.
Informative appendices include statewide results for all presidential and gubernatorial elections between 1840 and 1848, the Liberty Party’s 1844 platform, and short biographies of every Liberty member mentioned in the main text. Epic in scope and encyclopedic in detail, The Liberty Party, 1840–1848 is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in nineteenth-century American politics.
Reinhard O. Johnson lives on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He is currently developing a project on nineteenth-century antislavery politics in New York.
“The most comprehensive work on the Liberty Party. Without question, no one has devoted greater attention to the Liberty Party or made a better effort to review all the party’s newspapers and relevant manuscript collections.”—Journal of the Early Republic
“The author’s extensive archival research into this little-known party has produced a book that is very informative and an excellent read.”—History: Reviews of New Book
“Johnson provides scholars with a well-reasoned and useful accounting of the nation’s first antislavery party.”—Journal of American History
“The book stands out for its impressive scope and encyclopedic detail.”—American Historical Review
“Reinhard O. Johnson has written what will likely be regarded by many as the definitive history of the antebellum Liberty Party.”—American Nineteenth Century History
“Johnson’s tome is an impressive accomplishment. The Liberty Party will stand as the definitive account of the organization.”—Reviews in American History
“Johnson makes a compelling argument that we need to take the Liberty Party seriously and understand it across all of the northern states. This work will long remain a standard reference on the Liberty Party.”—H-CivWar
Found an Error? Tell us about it.
