The Abolitionists and the South, 1831-1861

"Harrold reminds historians of antebellum reform that a number of Northern abolitionists left the comfort of middle-class parlors to join coadjutors in the South and risk violence, imprisonment, and death. . . . Argues forcefully that abolitionism must be viewed from the perspective of the contested Southern borderlands."—Civil War History

"Harrold's bold, revisionist account of abolitionism in the antebellum period challenges the overwhelming emphasis in abolitionist scholarship on the movement's northern, and specifically New England, origins and influences."—Florida Historical Quarterly

"Assigns a crucial role to southern abolitionists in shaping policy and causing proslavery forces in the South to react, eventually to secede from the Union."—Georgia Historical Quarterly

"This is a path-breaking work that will significantly alter interpretations of abolitionism."—James L. Huston, Oklahoma State University

"Forces the reader to reopen a number of crucial questions concerning antislavery activities across the spectrum of the movement."—JASAT

"Challenges fundamental historiographical assumptions regarding the abolitionists' impact on the southern states and their role in causing the Civil War."—Journal of American History

"A thoroughly researched, well-written, and thought provoking study that should take its place among required reading in the study of American abolitionism."—Southern Historian