{"product_id":"samuel-ringgold-ward-life-struggle-blackett-9780300254945","title":"Samuel Ringgold Ward: A Life of Struggle by R. J. M. Blackett","description":"\u003ch2\u003eThe rediscovery of a pivotal figure in Black history and his importance and influence in the struggle against slavery and discrimination\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"A masterful biography. . . . Ward's struggles to find freedom, equality, peace, and belonging are still shared by many African Americans today.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e—Kellie Carter Jackson, The Nation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, \u003cstrong\u003eSamuel Ringgold Ward (1817-c. 1869) \u003c\/strong\u003eescaped enslavement and would become a leading figure in the struggle for Black freedom, citizenship, and equality. He was extolled by his contemporary Frederick Douglass for his \"depth of thought, fluency of speech, readiness of wit, logical exactness.\" \u003cstrong\u003eUntil now, his story has been largely untold.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003eWard, a newspaper editor, Congregational minister, and advocate for the temperance movement, was considered one of the leading orators of his time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the passage of the \u003cstrong\u003eFugitive Slave Act of 1850\u003c\/strong\u003e he fled to Canada, where he lectured widely to improve conditions for formerly enslaved people who had settled there. Ward then went to Britain as an agent of the Canadian Antislavery Society and published his influential book \u003ci\u003eAutobiography of a Fugitive Negro\u003c\/i\u003e. He never returned to the United States, and he died in obscurity in Jamaica.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite Ward's prominent role in the abolitionist movement, his story has been lost because of the decades he spent in exile. In this book, \u003cstrong\u003eR. J. M. Blackett \u003c\/strong\u003ebrings light to Ward's life and his important role in the struggle against slavery and discrimination, and to the personal price he paid for confronting oppression.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bust-Down Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50695952826683,"sku":"0300254946","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0855\/2077\/7531\/files\/9780300254945.jpg?v=1776080831","url":"https:\/\/bustdownbooks.com\/products\/samuel-ringgold-ward-life-struggle-blackett-9780300254945","provider":"Bust-Down Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}