{"product_id":"i-freed-myself-david-williams-9781107602496","title":"I Freed Myself: African American Self-Emancipation in the Civil War Era","description":"For a century and a half, Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has been the dominant narrative of African American freedom in the Civil War era. However, David Williams suggests that this portrayal marginalizes the role that African American slaves played in freeing themselves. At the Civil War's outset, Lincoln made clear his intent was to save the Union rather than free slaves - despite his personal distaste for slavery, he claimed no authority to interfere with the institution. By the second year of the war, though, when the Union army was in desperate need of black support, former slaves who escaped to Union lines struck a bargain: they would fight for the Union only if they were granted their freedom. Williams importantly demonstrates that freedom was not simply the absence of slavery but rather a dynamic process enacted by self-emancipated African American refugees, which compelled Lincoln to modify his war aims and place black freedom at the center of his wartime policies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David Williams\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1107602491\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781107602496\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cambridge University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/21\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 275\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2014 pg. 688","brand":"David Williams","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43980851151103,"sku":"9781107602496","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d07f60cc-fdf4-4b94-beb1-c60431701d97.jpg?v=1683252253","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/i-freed-myself-david-williams-9781107602496","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}