A study of how blacks were excluded from the Revolutionary patriots' goals for American liberation
Under the leadership of
Samuel Adams, patriot propagandists deliberately and conscientiously kept
the issue of slavery off the agenda as goals for freedom were set for the
By comparing coverage in
the publications of the patriot press with those of the moderate colonial
press, this book finds that the patriots avoided, misinterpreted, or distorted
news reports on blacks and slaves, even in the face of a vigorous antislavery
movement. The Boston
the most important newspaper of the Revolution, was chief among the periodicals
that dodged or excluded abolition. The author of this study shows that
The Gazette misled its readers about the notable Somerset decision that
led to abolition in Great Britain. She notes also that The Gazette excluded
antislavery essays, even from patriots who supported abolition. No petitions
written by Boston slaves were published, nor were any writings by the black
poet Phillis Wheatley. The Gazette also manipulated the racial identity
of Crispus Attucks, the first casualty in the Revolution. When using the
word slavery, The Gazette took care to focus it not upon abolition but
upon Great Britain's enslavement of its American colonies.
Since propaganda on behalf
of the Revolution reached a high level of sophistication, and since Boston
can be considered the foundry of Revolutionary propaganda, the author writes
that the omission of abolition from its agenda cannot be considered as
accidental but as intentional.
By the time the Revolution
began, white attitudes toward blacks were firmly fixed, and these persisted
long after American independence had been achieved. In Boston, notions
of virtue and vigilance were shown to be negatively embodied in black colonists.
These devil's imps were long represented in blackface in Boston's annual
Pope Day parade.
Although the leaders of
the Revolution did not articulate a national vision on abolition, the colonial
antislavery movement was able to achieve a degree of success but only in
drives through the individual colonies.
Patricia Bradley is the
former director of the American Studies program at Temple University and
is currently Chair of the Temple University Department of Journalism, Public
Relations, and Advertising.