The Resource Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager
Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager
Resource Information
The item Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
-
- Consigned to illiteracy, American slaves left little record of their thoughts and feelings--or so we have believed. But a few learned to use pen and paper to make sense of their experiences, despite prohibitions. These authors' perspectives rewrite the history of emancipation and force us to rethink the relationship between literacy and freedom
- One of the cruelest abuses of slavery in America was that slaves were forbidden to read and write. Consigned to illiteracy, they left no records of their thoughts and feelings apart from the few exceptional narratives of Frederick Douglass and others who escaped to the North--or so we have long believed. But as Christopher Hager reveals, a few enslaved African Americans managed to become literate in spite of all prohibitions, and during the halting years of emancipation, thousands more seized the chance to learn. The letters and diaries of these novice writers, unpolished and hesitant yet rich with voice, show ordinary black men and women across the South using pen and paper to make sense of their experiences. Through an unprecedented gathering of these forgotten writings--from letters by individuals sold away from their families, to petitions from freedmen in the army to their new leaders, to a New Orleans man's transcription of the Constitution--Word by Word rewrites the history of emancipation. The idiosyncrasies of these untutored authors, Hager argues, reveal the enormous difficulty of straddling the border between slave and free. These unusual texts, composed by people with a unique perspective on the written word, force us to rethink the relationship between literacy and freedom. For African Americans at the end of slavery, learning to write could be liberating and empowering, but putting their hard-won skill to use often proved arduous and daunting--a portent of the tenuousness of the freedom to come
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- 1 online resource (311 pages)
- Contents
-
- Black Literacy in the White Mind
- The Private Life of the Literate Slave
- Writing a Life in Slavery and Freedom
- The Written We
- Petition and Protest in the Occupied South
- Black Ink, White Pages
- Isbn
- 9780674067486
- Label
- Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing
- Title
- Word by word
- Title remainder
- emancipation and the act of writing
- Statement of responsibility
- Christopher Hager
- Subject
-
- African American authors -- Political and social views
- African American authors -- Political and social views
- African Americans -- Civil rights
- African Americans -- Civil rights
- African Americans -- Intellectual life
- African Americans -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
- African Americans -- Social conditions
- African Americans -- Social conditions -- To 1964
- African Americans in literature
- African Americans in literature
- American literature
- American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- American literature -- African American authors
- American literature -- African American authors | History and criticism
- Authors, American -- 19th century -- Political and social views
- Slaves -- Emancipation
- Slaves -- Emancipation -- United States
- To 1999
- United States
- Authors, American -- Political and social views
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Electronic books
- Electronic books
- HISTORY -- United States -- Civil War Period (1850-1877)
- LITERARY CRITICISM -- American | General
- Literature and society
- Literature and society -- United States
- Language
- eng
- Summary
-
- Consigned to illiteracy, American slaves left little record of their thoughts and feelings--or so we have believed. But a few learned to use pen and paper to make sense of their experiences, despite prohibitions. These authors' perspectives rewrite the history of emancipation and force us to rethink the relationship between literacy and freedom
- One of the cruelest abuses of slavery in America was that slaves were forbidden to read and write. Consigned to illiteracy, they left no records of their thoughts and feelings apart from the few exceptional narratives of Frederick Douglass and others who escaped to the North--or so we have long believed. But as Christopher Hager reveals, a few enslaved African Americans managed to become literate in spite of all prohibitions, and during the halting years of emancipation, thousands more seized the chance to learn. The letters and diaries of these novice writers, unpolished and hesitant yet rich with voice, show ordinary black men and women across the South using pen and paper to make sense of their experiences. Through an unprecedented gathering of these forgotten writings--from letters by individuals sold away from their families, to petitions from freedmen in the army to their new leaders, to a New Orleans man's transcription of the Constitution--Word by Word rewrites the history of emancipation. The idiosyncrasies of these untutored authors, Hager argues, reveal the enormous difficulty of straddling the border between slave and free. These unusual texts, composed by people with a unique perspective on the written word, force us to rethink the relationship between literacy and freedom. For African Americans at the end of slavery, learning to write could be liberating and empowering, but putting their hard-won skill to use often proved arduous and daunting--a portent of the tenuousness of the freedom to come
- Cataloging source
- N$T
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
- 1974-
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Hager, Christopher
- Dewey number
- 810.9/896073075
- Index
- index present
- Language note
- English
- LC call number
- PS153.N5
- LC item number
- H17 2013eb
- Literary form
- non fiction
- Nature of contents
-
- dictionaries
- bibliography
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- American literature
- Authors, American
- American literature
- African Americans
- African American authors
- African Americans
- Literature and society
- African Americans
- African Americans in literature
- Slaves
- LITERARY CRITICISM
- HISTORY
- African American authors
- African Americans
- African Americans in literature
- African Americans
- African Americans
- American literature
- American literature
- Authors, American
- Literature and society
- Slaves
- United States
- Label
- Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager
- Antecedent source
- unknown
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- online resource
- Carrier category code
-
- cr
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Color
- multicolored
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Black Literacy in the White Mind -- The Private Life of the Literate Slave -- Writing a Life in Slavery and Freedom -- The Written We -- Petition and Protest in the Occupied South -- Black Ink, White Pages
- Control code
- 827235538
- Dimensions
- unknown
- Extent
- 1 online resource (311 pages)
- File format
- unknown
- Form of item
- online
- Isbn
- 9780674067486
- Level of compression
- unknown
- Media category
- computer
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- c
- http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
- 22573/ctt2f2vsp
- Quality assurance targets
- not applicable
- Reformatting quality
- unknown
- Sound
- unknown sound
- Specific material designation
- remote
- System control number
- (OCoLC)827235538
- Label
- Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager
- Antecedent source
- unknown
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- online resource
- Carrier category code
-
- cr
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Color
- multicolored
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Black Literacy in the White Mind -- The Private Life of the Literate Slave -- Writing a Life in Slavery and Freedom -- The Written We -- Petition and Protest in the Occupied South -- Black Ink, White Pages
- Control code
- 827235538
- Dimensions
- unknown
- Extent
- 1 online resource (311 pages)
- File format
- unknown
- Form of item
- online
- Isbn
- 9780674067486
- Level of compression
- unknown
- Media category
- computer
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- c
- http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
- 22573/ctt2f2vsp
- Quality assurance targets
- not applicable
- Reformatting quality
- unknown
- Sound
- unknown sound
- Specific material designation
- remote
- System control number
- (OCoLC)827235538
Subject
- African American authors -- Political and social views
- African American authors -- Political and social views
- African Americans -- Civil rights
- African Americans -- Civil rights
- African Americans -- Intellectual life
- African Americans -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
- African Americans -- Social conditions
- African Americans -- Social conditions -- To 1964
- African Americans in literature
- African Americans in literature
- American literature
- American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- American literature -- African American authors
- American literature -- African American authors | History and criticism
- Authors, American -- 19th century -- Political and social views
- Slaves -- Emancipation
- Slaves -- Emancipation -- United States
- To 1999
- United States
- Authors, American -- Political and social views
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Electronic books
- Electronic books
- HISTORY -- United States -- Civil War Period (1850-1877)
- LITERARY CRITICISM -- American | General
- Literature and society
- Literature and society -- United States
Genre
Member of
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.umsl.edu/portal/Word-by-word--emancipation-and-the-act-of/wwlZHIcdo40/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.umsl.edu/portal/Word-by-word--emancipation-and-the-act-of/wwlZHIcdo40/">Word by word : emancipation and the act of writing, Christopher Hager</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.umsl.edu/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.umsl.edu/">University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries</a></span></span></span></span></div>
