"Fire and Sword Will Affect More Good": Runaways, Vigilance Committees, and the Rise of Revolutionary Abolitionism, 1835-1860

Olsavsky, Jesse (2019) "Fire and Sword Will Affect More Good": Runaways, Vigilance Committees, and the Rise of Revolutionary Abolitionism, 1835-1860. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Vigilance committees were urban, interracial organizations committed to protecting northern black neighborhoods from police and slave catchers, and to helping fugitive slaves along the Underground Railroad. They provided the setting in which activists, most of whom were black, female, or working-class, came into contact with thousands of fugitive slaves and learned from their experiences within the “prison house” of slavery. This dissertation examines the networks and organizational methods of the committees and shows how they radicalized abolitionism, plotted revolutions, and provoked sectional conflicts between North and South. It further illustrates how the rich dialogues between fugitives and activists nurtured Transcendentalist philosophy, black feminism, slave narrative writing, anti-imperialist thought, and prison abolition, among other things. In short, this project re-affirms the crucial role of slave resistance in Atlantic abolition, and shows the constitutive place of the Underground Railroad in crafting the black radical tradition.

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Details

Item Type:	University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status:	Unpublished
Creators/Authors:	Creators Email Pitt Username ORCID Olsavsky, Jesse jjo38@pitt.edu jjo38
ETD Committee:	Title Member Email Address Pitt Username ORCID Committee Chair Rediker, Marcus red1@pitt.edu red1 Committee CoChair Frykman, Niklas nef13@pitt.edu nef13 Committee Member Gobat, Michel MGOBAT@pitt.edu MGOBAT Committee Member Baptist, Edward eeb36@cornell.edu
Date:	25 June 2019
Date Type:	Publication
Defense Date:	1 April 2019
Approval Date:	25 June 2019
Submission Date:	4 April 2019
Access Restriction:	5 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 5 years.
Number of Pages:	371
Institution:	University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs:	Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > History
Degree:	PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed:	Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Fugitive Slaves, Antislavery, US History, Slavery, Social Movements, African American History
Date Deposited:	25 Jun 2019 21:45
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2019 21:45
URI:	http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/36670

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• "Fire and Sword Will Affect More Good": Runaways, Vigilance Committees, and the Rise of Revolutionary Abolitionism, 1835-1860. (deposited 25 Jun 2019 21:45) [Currently Displayed]

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