Race Slavery And Abolitionism In The Romantic Period William Blake S Little Black Boy

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Würzburg, language: English, abstract: This term paper deals with the institution of slavery and the process of its abolition and takes a look at the different reactions in Romantic literature. First of all, an overview over the historical background will be given, showing the economic importance of the slave trade at the end of the 18th century, as well as giving an outline of the con-temporary major race theories, that were underlying its justification. The movement for the abolition of slavery will be introduced, as well as some of their representa-tives, like Thomas Clarkson, or William Cowper. Subsequently, the main part of the paper will deal with William Blake and his poem "Little Black Boy". The piece will be taken as an example for 18th century abolitionist literature and will be analysed, with the help of secondary literature by Hazard Adams, D.G. Gillham, David Erdman and Lauren Henry. A special focus will be on the poem's religious theme. The term paper will end with a conclusion, summarizing the interpretations of the before-mentioned literary scientists and evaluating the significance of the paper's findings.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Würzburg, language: English, abstract: This term paper deals with the institution of slavery and the process of its abolition and takes a look at the different reactions in Romantic literature. First of all, an overview over the historical background will be given, showing the economic importance of the slave trade at the end of the 18th century, as well as giving an outline of the con-temporary major race theories, that were underlying its justification. The movement for the abolition of slavery will be introduced, as well as some of their representa-tives, like Thomas Clarkson, or William Cowper. Subsequently, the main part of the paper will deal with William Blake and his poem "Little Black Boy". The piece will be taken as an example for 18th century abolitionist literature and will be analysed, with the help of secondary literature by Hazard Adams, D.G. Gillham, David Erdman and Lauren Henry. A special focus will be on the poem’s religious theme. The term paper will end with a conclusion, summarizing the interpretations of the before-mentioned literary scientists and evaluating the significance of the paper’s findings.

Focusing on slave narratives from the Atlantic world of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this interdisciplinary collection of essays suggests the importance—even the necessity—of looking beyond the iconic and ubiquitous works of Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs. In granting sustained critical attention to writers such as Briton Hammon, Omar Ibn Said, Juan Francisco Manzano, Nat Turner, and Venture Smith, among others, this book makes a crucial contribution not only to scholarship on the slave narrative but also to our understanding of early African American and Black Atlantic literature. The essays explore the social and cultural contexts, the aesthetic and rhetorical techniques, and the political and ideological features of these noncanonical texts. By concentrating on earlier slave narratives not only from the United States but from the Caribbean, South America, and Latin America as well, the volume highlights the inherent transnationality of the genre, illuminating its complex cultural origins and global circulation.

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1942. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Chapter VII CONCLUSION There is no doubt that English romantic thought included the Negro and the amelioration of his condition as vital factors in the program of romanticism. Literary men and women of all types were more or less active in voicing their protest against the evils of slavery. From the heterogeneous array of literature we have seen various arguments advanced against this institution: first, from a moral and sentimental aspect, slavery is a transgression of the law of God and of the principles of right and justice; secondly, from an economic standpoint slave labor is in the long run more costly than free labor and the maintenance of slave colonies is a great expense to the mother country; and thirdly, from the physical aspect, slavery involves separation from families, the horrors of the Middle Passage, the scourge of pestilence and disease, the brutality of the lash, and the loss of human life. Many of those who advanced these arguments could not be contented while the Negro was reduced to a status a little above that of an animal. They were farsighted enough to see that any institution which deprived their fellowmen of intellectual, economic, and spiritual development was a hindrance to the progress of the human race as a whole. From this study three interesting facts are worthy of notice. One is that many of these writers were not prompted by any consideration of social equality for the Negro as the following account from Benjamin Haydon reveals: "When I was painting the 'AntiSlavery Convention' in 1840, I said to Scobell, one of the leading emancipation men, 'I shall place you, Thompson, and the Negro, together.' This was the touchstone. He sophisticated immediately on the propriety of placing the Negro in the distance. Now, a man who wishes to ...

The Companion to Romanticism is a major introductory survey from an international galaxy of scholars writing new pieces, specifically for a student readership, under the editorship of Duncan Wu.

The Handbook of American Romanticism presents a comprehensive survey of the various schools, authors, and works that constituted antebellum literature in the United States. The volume is designed to feature a selection of representative case studies and to assess them within two complementary frameworks: the most relevant historical, political, and institutional contexts of the antebellum decades and the consequent (re-)appropriations of the Romantic period by academic literary criticism in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.