{"product_id":"the-precious-birthright-cj-martin-9781625348395","title":"The Precious Birthright: Black Leaders and the Fight to Vote in Antebellum Rhode Island","description":"\u003cp\u003e In 1842, Black Rhode Islanders secured a stunning victory, a success rarely seen in antebellum America: they won the right to vote. Amid heightened public discourse around shifting ideas of race, citizenship, and political rights, they methodically deconstructed the arguments against their enfranchisement, exposing the arbitrariness of the color line in delineating citizenship rights and choosing the perfect moments in which to act forcefully. At the head of this movement, a cohort of prominent business and community members formed an early example of a Black leadership class in the US. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e CJ Martin draws upon a wealth of sources--including personal correspondences, government and organizational documents, tax records, and petitions--to argue that Black leaders employed a unique combination of agitation and accommodation to ensure the success of the movement. By investigating their tactics, Martin deepens the story of how race played a crucial role in American citizenship, and by focusing on Black leadership, he relates this history through the people who lived it--who thought, debated, petitioned, and enacted their own liberation. Telling the story of a fight that was as important to the pioneers of interracial democracy as it was for the civil rights activists of the twentieth century, \u003ci\u003eThe Precious Birthright\u003c\/i\u003e provides new insight into the larger story of Black freedom. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Cj Martin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1625348398\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781625348395\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Massachusetts Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/17\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Cj Martin","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46140917514495,"sku":"9781625348395","price":99.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ab33b3b3-7a66-4ee8-af95-73da935f2fc4.jpg?v=1726597403","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-precious-birthright-cj-martin-9781625348395","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}