Synopsis
Martin R. Delaney was one of the few Black authors in the mid-1800s. This book was written as a serialized novel, printed in The Weekly Anglo-African. This copy is the first compilation of the the pieces, including found chapters, into one cohesive novel. in the Delaney's hero is a West Indian slave who travels throughout the South advocating revolution, and later becomes the general of a black insurrectionary force in Cuba. Blake hopes that, with rebellion in Cuba and the expulsion of all Americans, Cuba's model as a self-governed black state will ultimately precipitate the downfall of slavery in the United States. Focusing on the political and social issues of the 1850s - slavery as an institution, Cuba as the prime interest of Southern expansionists, the practicality of militant slave revolution, and the possibilities of collective action - Blake is one of the most revealing novels of its period. Includes a foreword that sets the historical background.
