African-American History (Chicago Citation)

Robert Purvis was an important member of the abolitionist community in the United States during the mid-1800's. Originally from South Carolina, Purvis was only 1/4 black, and although he was light skinned enough to pass for white, chose to present himself as a black man. Purvis was important for his association with a number of abolitionist causes including the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Young Men's Antislavery Society, and the American Moral Reform Society (AMRS), Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. (Alexander 506) He wrote "Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens to Protest Disenfranchisement in Pennsylvania," used his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and support black troops during the Civil War.

John Wesley Cromwell was born into slavery but went on to become a lawyer, organizer, historian, educator, and writer. Freed in 1851 when his father purchased his family's freedom, John returned to Virginia after the Civil War to open a private school for freedmen. When his school was taken over by the American Missionary Association he became an instructor and principal. He also was involved in politics becoming a delegate to both the first Republican convention as well as the Virginia Constitutional Convention. After graduating from law school, he became a civil servant in the Post Office until he retired in 1885 when he went on to become a education as a part of the abolitionist movement. She was one of only two black women delegates to the 1837 Anti-Slavery Convention, but died of an illness in 1841.

Question #2

Black Nationalism is the belief that "African-Americans as a distinct people should pursue collective political action rooted in their common history and their ostensibly common interests." (Alex-Assensoh 338) In effect, African-Americans should become a political group and exercise their political power. In the 1840's and 50's, Black Nationalism replaced the movement to remove blacks from American society and return them to Africa. It was the beginning of the African-American political movement which would ultimately result in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and 60's.

Question #3

As a result of the American victory in the Mexican War, huge tracks of land, essentially the entire American Southwest,…