Wilson Jeremiah Moses is Professor of History at The Pennsylvania State University. His previous books include
The Golden Age of Black Nationalism and Alexander Crummell: A Study in Civilization and Discontent.
Review
"A most useful grounding for those interested in gaining a foundation for the study of black nationalism.
The selection of sources is judicious and economical--yet, fully adequate to 'tell the story.' Moses's introduction
is masterful; rather than being driven by any specific ideological predisposition, his interpretive voice is clearly
rendered, yet fair."
--William L. Van Deburg, author of New Day in Babylon: The Black Power Movement and American Culture, 1965-1975
New York University Press Web Site, January, 2001
Summary
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in modern black nationalist leaders such as Stokely Carmichael
and Malcolm X. But what of the ideological precursors to these modern leaders, the writers, and leaders from whose
intellectual legacy modern black nationalism emerged? Wilson Jeramiah Moses, whom the Village Voice called one
of the foremost historians of black nationalism, has here collected the most influential speeches, articles, and
letters that inform the intellectual underpinnings of contemporary black nationalism, returning our focus to black
nationalism at its inception.
The goal of early black nationalists was the return of the African-American population to Africa to create a sovereign
nation-state and to formulate an ideological basis for a concept of national culture. Most early black nationalists
believed that this return was directed by the hand of God. Moses examines the evolution of black nationalist thought
through several phases, from its proto-nationalisic phase in the late 1700s through a hiatus in the 1830s, through
its flourishing in the 1850s, its eventual eclipse in the 1870s, and its resurgence in the Garvey movement of the
1920s.
Moses provides us with documents that illustrate the motivations of both whites and blacks as they sought the removal
of the black population. We hear from Thomas Jefferson, who held that it was self-evident that black and white
populations could not intermingle on an equal basis or merge to form one happy society, and who toyed with the
idea of a mass deportation of the black American population. We see that the profit motive is an important motive
behind any nationalist movement in the letters between African American capitalists Paul Cuffe and James Forten.
Among the more difficult selections to classify in this collection, Robert Alexander Young's Ethiopian Manifesto
prophesied the coming of a prophetic liberator of the African race. The Christian nature of nineteenth century
black nationalism is evident in Blyden's The Call of Providence.
Moses rounds out the volume with contributions from more well- known voices such as those of Marcus Garvey, W.E.B.
Dubois, and others. Classical Black Nationalism will serve as a point of departure for anyone interested in gaining
a foundational knowledge of the disparate voices behind this often discussed but seldom understood movement.
