The evolution of radical African-American Abolitionism in the first third of the XIX century

This article is devoted to the problem of the development of the African-American liberation movement in the first third of the XIX century. Its relevance is due to the actual lack of research on this topic in Russian historiography. The work is based on the works of leading American researchers Douglas Egerton, Herbert Apteker, Daniel Rasmussen, Stephen Oates, David Allmendinger and Gerald Horn. The main sources are the materials of court cases following the slave uprisings in the United States. The research is conducted in accordance with the principle of historicism. The main methods are the narrative method, which is manifested in the description of the events of African-American history of this period, the comparative historical method, which allows for historical parallels and comparisons, the historical genetic method, which allows us to identify the properties of phenomena (in this case, we are talking about slave uprisings) and consider them in their development, and the method of periodization. The purpose of the study is to examine the history of radical African-American abolitionism in the first third of the XIX century, which can be called the period of the highest development of this phenomenon. The main tasks are to determine the main stages of the development of African-American abolitionism and the causes of the changes. The first part is devoted to the period from 1800 to 1815. In the course of the narrative, the author examines the slave conspiracies in Virginia in 1800 and 1802, as well as the uprising on the German coast in Louisiana in 1811. As a result, he comes to the conclusion that at this stage, the idea of achieving liberation by accomplishing a social revolution prevails in abolitionist rhetoric. The Great French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution were clear examples of such liberation. The next period is associated with the disappointment of the African-American population in the ideology of the French Enlightenment and the appeal to the idea of repatriation, which appeared at the end of the XVIII century and was supported by the American Colonization Society. However, attempts to implement it in practice were unsuccessful, because there were few free Blacks willing to go to Africa, and slaves could not take advantage of this opportunity because of enslavement. This situation led to the slave conspiracy of 1822 under the leadership of Denmark Vesey. In the late 1820s, the situation changed, the idea of repatriation was losing popularity among the African-American population. The latter can be observed by the example of the appearance and relevance of the famous pamphlet by the African-American abolitionist David Walker. But the central event of this period was the legendary uprising of Nat Turner. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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