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Date: Wed, 02 Nov 2005 13:56:02 -0800 (PST) From: Raymond Krohn <jraymondjames@yahoo.com> I respectfully disagree with Prof. Mason. It is encouraged--or at the least suggested--that scholars, when examining the abolitionist movement, think outside the box--the ballot box that is. This specifically pertains to Garrisonian-inspired activists. The comments made in my two previous posts indicate, directly and indirectly, that the influence of the Garrisonian persuasion is difficult to locate statistically; that Garrisonians occupied a political avant-garde; and that an effective/ineffective analytical construct at best misconstrues the nature of Garrisonian activism, especially in comparison to their seemingly more pragmatic and successful political counterparts. It is argued that (white male) Garrisonians participated in the political process by not participating. Imagine the potential efficacy--if not the inherent value--of such a course had greater amounts of antebellum Americans followed that example. Since mass party politics were predicated upon voter mobilization, the conscious absence of substantial portions of the electorate at the local, county, state, and national levels may have arguably influenced one of the major parties into a reassessment of issues and platforms to meet the needs of these protesters (so Garrisonians believed). Indeed, this is conjectural, and perhaps even wishful thinking. Yet, given the symbolic worth of the franchise for antebellum (and subsequent) Americans, the Garrisonian refusal to vote, had it been implemented outside of that group, had the ability to shift the parameters of democratic politics and the significance of dissent in a democratic polity. That Garrisonians withheld their votes re veals not lack of political sophistication, but political shrewdness redefined. Garrisonians ultimately failed not through any personal faults, but because of cultural constraints: the republican legacy of active citizenship, transformed by liberal ideology into self-interested suffrage. Best, Raymond Krohn PhD Student Department of History Purdue University jraymondjames@yahoo.com --------------------------------- Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click. ----- End forwarded message -----
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