2 - The Declaration of Independence and Black Citizenship in the 1820s

Summary

A transformation of the Declaration of Independence’s symbolism in the 1820s that proved useful for those advancing claims on behalf of black Americans. In the first instance, the Declaration became more closely associated with a commitment to equality. In the second instance, the project of unifying the nation around the sacred text of the Declaration had the effect of providing a written expression of American nationalism as a value-laden concept. This chapter traces the ways in which free black writers sought to exploit both opportunities, ultimately generating an understanding of American citizenship that would inform the wider abolitionist movement of the 1830s. These efforts saw free black writers advance claims upon American citizenship with pamphlets, including David Walker’s Appeal, and the first African American owned and operated newspaper in the United States, Freedom’s Journal. Associating this understanding of the Declaration with the U.S. Constitution provided a framework for understanding the Constitution as committed to an expansive notion of the People and provided an important orientating concept for the abolitionist movement as it evolved into the 1830s.