Summary Of The Counter-Revolution Of 1776

Developing the thought of the centrality of slavery with regard to the social and economic development of the United States further back in time than most scholars is Gerald Horne. In his book the Counter-Revolution of 1776, Horne argues that both the expansion of slavery and the slave economy (both a greater economic control of and profit from the slave trade) were the leading motives in the colonists’ fight for independence from Britain. Arguing that for many proponents the control over the “free market,” especially the opportunity in participating freely in the slave trade critically informed some of the founders’ aspirations to gain freedom—at least for themselves. Horne shows that the actions of the U.S. elite stood in stark contrast
Du Bois, which was only the beginning of a longer process to familiarize myself with his most important works. Having read The Souls of Black Folks early in my university career in Berlin, Du Bois has ever since frequently crossed my path. Most of the times he did so as key player during the early years of the NAACP, but also and more consistently in his role as one of the intellectual fathers of Pan-Africanism who deeply cared about the plight of what he called the “darker races” all around the globe. Never wary to point out what he saw as the real causes of the racial and social problems of his time, Du Bois raised the ire of both the white and the black elite, often at the same time. Commonly presented as the counterpart to Booker T. Washington’s gradual approach to racial equality, Du Bois stance on various issues evolved over the course of his long career as scholar and activist. At times it was elitist, progressive, socialist, Pan-Africanist, a mix of them, or hard to define. He certainly understood himself as a critical propagandist for his race and its interests. As so many among us, he had difficulties with publically coming to terms with some of his misjudgments, like his vigorous public propagation of Blacks’ participation in World War I. Famous for his critique of the racism of white workers, anti-suffragettes and his defense of black women, especially maligned and mistreated mothers, and well aware that Marxism would not be able to be effective in the United States unless it would be adjusted to American realities, Du Bois remained a prolific commentator and author for the rest of his life. Rescinding his American citizenship shortly before his death in Accra, Ghana in late August 1963, Du Bois never saw the efforts of the civil rights movement come to fruition. Nevertheless, he left his critiques and his admirers with a vast legacy of literary, political, historical, and sociological works that