The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement

Rating:
Summary: Explains Emancipation
Review: Julie Roy Jeffrey's absolutly magnificent book is must reading for anyone interested in aboltionism and the American Civil War. Jeffrey not only writes an excellent history of aboltionism and women's role in that movement, but she explains, very convincingly, why northern whites eventually would eventually support Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Jeffrey describes how abolitionism in the north in the 1850's became "normalized" within many communities. In other words, the idea of freeing the slaves by 1860 was not some crazy idea. It was something that people had been exposed to for years. Jeffrey argues that this is largely because of women.

This book is one of the most important works on the war to be published in years. Anyone who thinks they understand the war without reading it is simply fooling themselves. This book has my highest recomendation.