Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgee and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson [Hardcover]

Mark Elliott (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195181395 | ISBN-13: 978-0195181395 | Publication Date: December 4, 2006

Civil War officer, Reconstruction "carpetbagger," best-selling novelist, and relentless champion of equal rights, Albion Tourg�e battled his entire life for racial justice. Now, in this engaging biography, Mark Elliott offers an insightful portrait of a fearless lawyer, jurist, and writer, who fought for equality long after most Americans had abandoned the ideals of Reconstruction.
Elliott provides a fascinating account of Tourg�e's life, from his childhood in the Western Reserve region of Ohio (then a hotbed of abolitionism), to his years as a North Carolina judge during Reconstruction, to his memorable role as lead plaintiff's counsel in the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Tourg�e's brief coined the phrase that justice should be "color-blind," and his career was one long campaign to made good on that belief. A redoubtable lawyer and an accomplished jurist, Tourg�e wrote fifteen political novels, eight books of historical and social criticism, and several hundred newspaper and magazine articles that all told represent a mountain of dissent against the prevailing tide of racial oppression.
Through the lens of Tourg�e's life, Elliott illuminates the war of ideas about race that raged through the United States in the nineteenth century, from the heated debate over slavery before the Civil War, through the conflict over aid to freedmen during Reconstruction, to the backlash toward the end of the century, when Tourg�e saw his country retreat from the goals of equality and freedom and utterly repudiate the work of Reconstruction.
A poignant and inspiring study in courage and conviction, Color Blind Justice offers us an unforgettable portrayal of Albion Tourg�e and the principles to which he dedicated his life.

Finalist, 2007 Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A seminal but nearly forgotten figure in the American Civil Rights movement receives his due in this richly detailed biography by Elliot, history professor at Warner College. The Ohio-born Tourgee (pronounced Toor-zhay) served in the Union Army during the Civil War, studied law and found his life's calling in North Carolina during Reconstruction. African-Americans and civil rights advocates hailed him as a dedicated champion of the political, legal and economic rights of former slaves, while many southern whites called him a Yankee carpetbagger. Later, Tourgee (1838–1905) produced 15 novels, eight books of nonfiction, and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles on race and racial injustice. In addition to founding the National Citizen's Rights Association in 1891, he helped write the nation's first antilynching law in Ohio in 1896 and served as lead attorney in the famed Plessy v. Ferguson, the first constitutional challenge to segregation argued before the Supreme Court. (Tourgee coined the phrase "color-blind justice" in his Supreme Court brief in that losing effort.) Elliott goes a long way toward restoring Albion Tourgee's name to a prominent place on the list of American civil rights heroes. 20 b&w photos. (Dec.)
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Review

"In focusing on this largely forgotten activist and artist of Victorian America and his struggles to bring the United States into closer proximity to its ever-elusive ideals, Elliott undertook a task that was more daunting, for his subject pursued wildly different careers as a politician, a lawyer, and a novelist in pursuit of his goals. The author impressively succeeds in integrating these divergent strands into a coherent and illuminating whole."--Michael Thomas Smith, Reviews in American History

"An excellent biography, by far the best scholarly treatment of it important subject."--Mark S. Weiner, American Historical Review

"No one has completed a more thorough, penetrating study of Tourg�e and his multiple legacies than Mark Elliott."--Jane Dailey, Civil War Book Review

"Elliott's masterful biography...defies easy capsulization.... It tells a story of a remarkable and talented man who dedicated much of his life to a noble, yet often lonely, struggle.... And it places Tourgee in the context of the momentous events that shaped his life and ideas...this extraordinary biography ends by leaving it to others to judge the meaning of Tourgee's life in our own times. There is little doubt that it can still tell us a great deal about the human condition."--Raleigh Daily News and Observer

"Mark Elliott...has synthesized a wealth of material and crafted a superb study.... Elliot writes with gusto and is provocative in his analysis. Color-Blind Justice is certain to become an invaluable source on Tourg�e and on race relations in the United States during the second half of the 19th century."--Richmond Times Dispatch

"A seminal but nearly forgotten figure in the American Civil Rights movement receives his due in this richly detailed biography.... Elliott goes a long way toward restoring Albion Tourg�e's name to a prominent place on the list of American civil rights heroes."--Publishers Weekly

"Through deep research, great sensitivity to the racial and social contexts of the late nineteenth century, and some eloquent writing, Elliott shows us a Tourg�e who truly was a pioneer of the tradition of antiracism in its early years. The work is also an excellent on-the-ground biography of a carpetbaggers experience in Reconstruction North Carolina. Tourg�e was a major literary, legal, and political figure and this book finally may bring his story to a larger readership. As a first book by a young scholar, it is impressive for its mature writing and creative research."--Avery O. Craven Award citation

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 388 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195181395
• ISBN-13: 978-0195181395
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #768,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Albion Tourgee: Overlooked 19th century civil rights hero, May 29, 2007

By 

Scemel "Scemel1" (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgee and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson (Hardcover)

If you're interested in civil rights history, the Civil War or Reconstruction and you have never heard of Albion Tourgee, Mark Elliott's Color-Blind Justice is a must-read.

Even if you know a lot about this period and Tourgee is a familiar name, this book will tell you much that you don't know and may dispel some myths popularized in other, lesser histories of the period.

The book is deeply researched with lots of new details from the personal letters and papers of Tourgee, who in the post-Civil War period was nationally famous and had the ear of a striking number of important figures, including several U.S. presidents all the way up to Theodore Roosevelt.

Tourgee is a great character. He was born of humble beginnings in northeast Ohio in a Christian family that were early white abolitionists who originally hailed from Massachusetts. He was one of the first wounded in the Civil War, run over by wagon and paralyzed, but remarkably he returned to action before the war's end. These early experiences and influnces shaped a world view that he held tightly to throughout his life in the turbulent post-war political debate.

Deeply idealistic about the opportunity to remake a slavery-free south, Tourgee moves his family to North Carolina, one of the Radical Republican "carpetbaggers." But unlike many others who came from the north, Tourgee did not hope to profit or exploit the south for personal gain. He was inspired by the ideals of the Civil War as a fight for justice. He became a judge and a political leader, helping write much of the new North Carolina constitution. He adopted a mixed race child and hired blacks to work for his businesses.

This attracted the attention of the early Ku Klux Klan, but Tourgee bravely refused to relent in the face of threats. Fascinatingly, he crossed paths with a young Thomas Dixon, even advising the future Klan leader kindly about his writing, only to later see Dixon become a force for evil in the south and a propaganda whiz who clouded public opinion by repeatedly challenging Tourgee's work. The infamous "Birth of a Nation" film that glorified the Klan mocks Tourgee in its early frames.

Tourgee wrote in northern newspapers about the true nature of reconstruction, which had an undeservedly bad reputation in the north. After 16 years in North Carolina, he left discouraged and moved north. A novel based on his experience -- A Fool's Errand -- became a national best seller, dispelling many of the misconceptions about reconstruction, if only for a brief period.

Now famous, Tourgee wrote articles prolifically and became a strong voice for civil rights, even founding a mixed race organization that was the pre-cursor to the NAACP.

But there was little Tourgee could do to stem a political backlash, a national weariness of reconstruction and the problems of the south in the late 19th century. To his great frustration, northerner's largely stood by as the south reinstituted white supremecy through "Jim Crow" laws.

In a final effort to defy this trend, Tourgee led the charge to challenge a Louisana law that forced racial separation on trains in what became the famous "Dred Scott" case. Tourgee was the lead counsel arguing brilliantly before the U.S, Supreme Court that the idea of segregation was an absurd state policy in clear violation of the Constitution.

Dred Scott lost before the Supreme Court in a 7-1 decision that at the time was a devestating setback for civil rights. And a despondent Tourgee left the U.S. to live out his years and die and France. But over time the case became seen as one of the worst high court decisions of all time. Tourgee's arguments became the basis for challenges to segregation that ultimatley would triumph with Brown vs. Board of Education.

There are other biographies of Tourgee. What makes this one unique is the detailed analysis of the evolution of his thinking about race, politics and social issues. Elliott adeptly shows how practical and political considerations sometimes shaped Tourgee's opinions and at other times thwarted him when he stood on principle.

To understand the racial turmoil of the 20th century, and to better know nature of racial tension in America today, Tourgee's story is crucial and Elliott's book is instructive.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Albion Tourgee, December 12, 2006

By 

RWL (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgee and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson (Hardcover)

Albion Tourgee comes alive in this riveting biography, which emphasizes his role in the post Civil War era. It is a must read for any student of U.S. History.