2009/09/01 by Douglas Ross · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #American History and Culture #Emancipation #Universalism #Exceptionalism #Nationalism #American exceptionalism #Religious studies #Sociology #History #Law #Political science #Philosophy #Politics
paper · doi:10.1093/jahist/96.2.379
openalex publication_date 2009/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
In the history of emancipation, the ethical dimension is always prominent. Since the 1960s emancipation has been influentially portrayed as a result of the gradual, halting, but growing triumph of universalist liberal and Christian principles, a key moment in a progressive national narrative of growing freedom. The abolitionists stand astride the story as prophetic and ultimately triumphant voices of principle. We have good reasons to accept that account; universalist ethical principles and abolitionist determination were essential to emancipation. Inspired by the civil rights movement and the ongoing struggle for racial equality, the recovery of the importance of universal principles of human rights in ending slavery in the United States is a major achievement of historiography over the last half century. But the history of emancipation and its implications are skewed if we ignore the complex ethical role of the nation in the process leading to emancipation. As Edward L. Ayers suggested, the current narrative too easily “reassures Americans by reconciling the great anomaly of slavery with an overarching story of a people devoted to liberty.” It distorts our understanding of both emancipation and the nation at a crucial moment of their intertwined history.1