Pennsylvania contained the largest concentration of early America's abolitionist leaders and organizations, making it a necessary and illustrative stage from which to understand how national conversations about the place of free blacks in early America originated and evolved, and, importantly, the role that colonization--supporting the emigration of free and emancipated blacks to Africa--played in national and international antislavery movements. Beverly C. Tomek's meticulous exploration of the archives of the American Colonization Society, Pennsylvania's abolitionist societies, and colonizationist leaders (both black and white) enables her to boldly and innovatively demonstrate that, in Philadelphia at least, the American Colonization Society often worked closely with other antislavery groups to further the goals of the abolitionist movement.

In Colonization and Its Discontents, Tomek brings a much-needed examination of the complexity of the colonization movement by describing in depth the difference between those who supported colonization for political and social reasons and those who supported it for religious and humanitarian reasons. Finally, she puts the black perspective on emigration into the broader picture instead of treating black nationalism as an isolated phenomenon and examines its role in influencing the black abolitionist agenda.

Pennsylvania contained the largest concentration of early America's abolitionist leaders and organizations, making it a necessary and illustrative stage from which to understand how national conversations about the place of free blacks in early America originated and evolved, and, importantly, the role that colonization-supporting the emigration of free and emancipated blacks to Africa-played in national and international antislavery movements. Beverly C. Tomek's meticulous exploration of the archives of the American Colonization Society, Pennsylvania's abolitionist societies, and colonizationist leaders (both black and white) enables her to boldly and innovatively demonstrate that, in Philadelphia at least, the American Colonization Society often worked closely with other antislavery groups to further the goals of the abolitionist movement. In Colonization and Its Discontents, Tomek brings a much-needed examination of the complexity of the colonization movement by describing in depth the difference between those who supported colonization for political and social reasons and those who supported it for religious and humanitarian reasons. Finally, she puts the black perspective on emigration into the broader picture instead of treating black nationalism as an isolated phenomenon and examines its role in influencing the black abolitionist agenda.

Offering a gripping narrative of one of the most notorious anti-abolition and anti-black riots to take place in the antebellum U.S., Pennsylvania Hall: A 'Legal Lynching' in the Shadow of the Liberty Bell provides a thorough explanation of the complexities of American antislavery and describes a society that was struggling to recreate itself in the wake of emancipation. Part of the Critical Historical Encounters series, Pennsylvania Hall focuses on the differences between gradual and immediate emancipation and the complexities of "immediatism." After describing the tensions between competing abolition camps, author Beverly Tomek examines the way in which the Garrisonian branch of the movement used the press effectively to shape both the contemporary and historical narrative. She demonstrates how Pennsylvania-the birthplace of American abolition-remained relevant to the cause. Illustrating the complexity of the Abolition movement in the North and how internal struggles hampered the movements' goals, Pennsylvania Hall's strong narrative style provides an in-depth analysis while remaining approachable for students.