The African-American History of Nashville, Tennessee, 1780-1930: Elites and Dilemmas

by Lovett, Bobby L.

• ISBN13: 9781557285553
• ISBN10: 1557285551
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arkansas Pr

Summary

Since its founding, Nashville has been a center of black urban culture in the Upper South. Blacks -- slave and free made up 20 percent of Fort Nashborough's settlers in 1779. From these early years through the Civil War, a growing black community in Nashville, led by a small group of black elites, quietly built the foundations of a future society, developing schools, churches, and businesses. The Civil War brought new freedoms and challenges as the black population of Nashville increased and as black elites found themselves able -- even obliged -- to act more openly. To establish a more stable and prosperous African-American community, the elites found that they had to work within a system bound to the interests of whites. But the aims of this elite did not always coincide with those of the black community at large. By 1930, younger blacks, in particular, were moving towards protest and confrontation. As democratization and higher education spread, the lines distinguishing Nashville's black elite became blurred. Bobby L. Lovett presents a complex analysis of black experience in Nashville during the years between 1780 and.1930, exploring the impact of civil rights, education, politics, religion, business, and neighborhood development on a particular African-American community. This study of black Nashville examines lives lived within a web of shifting alliances and interests -- the choices made, the difficulties overcome.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Black Nashville during Slavery Times	1	(24)
Religion, Education, and the Politics of Slavery and Secession	25	(22)
The Civil War: ``Blue Man's Coming''	47	(24)
Life after Slavery: Progress Despite Poverty and Discrimination	71	(35)
Business and Culture: A World of Their Own	106	(25)
On Common Ground: Reading, ``Riting,'' and Arithmetic	131	(13)
Uplifting the Race: Higher Education	144	(29)
Churches and Religion: From Paternalism to Maturity	173	(25)
Politics and Civil Rights: The Black Republicans	198	(36)
Racial Accommodationism and Protest	234	(21)
Notes	255	(46)
Index	301