Picture 1 of 1
Jefferson's Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism
by Wilkins, Roger W. | PB | Good
Condition:
“Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, ”... Read moreAbout condition
Postage:
Located in: Aurora, Illinois, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Thu, 13 Jun and Sat, 15 Jun to 43230
Returns:
Payments:
Shop with confidence
Seller information
- 99% positive Feedback
Registered as a business seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:373543699312
Item specifics
- Condition
- Good
- Seller notes
- Binding
- Paperback
- Weight
- 0 lbs
- Product Group
- Book
- IsTextBook
- No
- ISBN
- 9780807009574
- Book Title
- Jefferson's Pillow : the Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism
- Publisher
- Beacon Press
- Item Length
- 8.5 in
- Publication Year
- 2002
- Format
- Perfect
- Language
- English
- Item Height
- 0.4 in
- Genre
- Biography & Autobiography, History, Social Science, Political Science
- Topic
- Slavery, United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775), Presidents & Heads of State, African American, Political Ideologies / Nationalism & Patriotism
- Item Weight
- 7.7 Oz
- Item Width
- 5.5 in
- Number of Pages
- 180 Pages
About this product
Product Information
An outspoken participant in the civil rights movement, Roger Wilkins served as Assistant Attorney General during the Johnson administration. In 1972 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize along with Bernstein and Herblock for his coverage of Watergate. Yet this black man, who has served the United States so well, feels at times an unwelcome guest here. In Jefferson's Pillow, Wilkins returns to America's beginnings and the founding fathers who preached and fought for freedom, even though they owned other human beings and legally denied them their humanity. He asserts that the mythic accounts of the American Revolution have ignored slavery and oversimplified history until the heroes, be they the founders or the slaves in their service, are denied any human complexity. Wilkins offers a thoughtful analysis of this fundamental paradox through his exploration of the lives of George Washington, George Mason, James Madison, and of course Thomas Jefferson. He discusses how class, education, and personality allowed for the institution of slavery, unravels how we as Americans tell different sides of that story, and explores the confounding ability of that narrative to limit who we are and who we can become. An important intellectual history of America's founding, Jefferson's Pillow will change the way we view our nation and ourselves. "We are obliged to judge because we are obliged to do better; to probe the flaws of our predecessors is to engage not in vindictive finger-pointing but to resist hubris and complacency in our own time. Wilkins' book has made a mirror of the past in which we glimpse our own shortcomings --and perhaps even the means for transcending them." --Philip Connors, In These Times (full review online) "Wilkins makes a case for his opinions in sentences that enchant and inform. In its persuasive blend of logic and lyricism, Wilkins's language at its most potent is positively . . . Jeffersonian." --Jabari Asim, Washington Post Book World (full review online) With a sense of genuine curiosity Wilkins tried to avoid either condemning the founders too easily by modern standards or excusing too easily the contradictions of their slave ownership. Instead, by exploring the culture and atmosphere in which they grew up, he discovered how much slavery was an integral part of the Virginia society that enabled the founders to create the recipe for modern rights, equality and democracy. --Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune (full article online) "Wilkins, who describes himself as a 'deeply committed American, ' is never less than a patriot here; someone indifferent about America could not write such a thoughtful book. He demythologizes the Founding Fathers, yet expands their greatness by placing it within the context of the times, as well as their flawed humanity." --Boston Globe "When the Founding Fathers were deciding whether to risk their lives and fortunes for their ideals, Benjamin Franklin remarked: 'We must all indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately.' In the years after their bold gamble for freedom, the hangman's noose played a far darker role in our republic, becoming the lynch mob's weapon of choice for denying African-Americans their inalienable rights. Liberty and freedom, repression and racism, these warring yet braided strands form the Gordian knot of the American experience: A land of visionary lightentwined in the darkest recesses of human cruelty. Now comes Roger Wilkins like a modern-day Alexander to cut this knot." --J. Peder Zane, Raleigh News and Observer "This astonishing book by the 1980s antiapartheid leader Wilkins (a professor of history at George Mason University and Pulitzer-Prize winner) provides a brief, but tremendously incisive demythologizing of four Virginian founders--Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Mason (whose stature Wilkins justly elevates)--and their conflicted attitudes toward race, in the process of humanizing them and deepening ou
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Beacon Press
ISBN-10
0807009571
ISBN-13
9780807009574
eBay Product ID (ePID)
2279676
Product Key Features
Book Title
Jefferson's Pillow : the Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism
Number of Pages
180 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2002
Topic
Slavery, United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775), Presidents & Heads of State, African American, Political Ideologies / Nationalism & Patriotism
Genre
Biography & Autobiography, History, Social Science, Political Science
Format
Perfect
Dimensions
Item Height
0.4 in
Item Weight
7.7 Oz
Item Length
8.5 in
Item Width
5.5 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
21
Reviews
An extraordinarily thoughtful and illuminating meditation on American history. --Ira Berlin, The New York Times Book Review "We are obliged to judge because we are obliged to do better; to probe the flaws of our predecessors is to engage not in vindictive finger-pointing but to resist hubris and complacency in our own time. Wilkins' book has made a mirror of the past in which we glimpse our own shortcomings -and perhaps even the means for transcending them." --Philip Connors, In These Times "Wilkins makes a case for his opinions in sentences that enchant and inform. In its persuasive blend of logic and lyricism, Wilkins's language at its most potent is positively . . . Jeffersonian." --Jabari Asim, Washington Post Book World "With a sense of genuine curiosity Wilkins tried to avoid either condemning the founders too easily by modern standards or excusing too easily the contradictions of their slave ownership. Instead, by exploring the culture and atmosphere in which they grew up, he discovered how much slavery was an integral part of the Virginia society that enabled the founders to create the recipe for modern rights, equality and democracy." --Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune "Wilkins, who describes himself as a 'deeply committed American,' is never less than a patriot here; someone indifferent about America could not write such a thoughtful book. He demythologizes the Founding Fathers, yet expands their greatness by placing it within the context of the times, as well as their flawed humanity." --Boston Globe "When the Founding Fathers were deciding whether to risk their lives and fortunes for their ideals, Benjamin Franklin remarked: 'We must all indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately.' In the years after their bold gamble for freedom, the hangman's noose played a far darker role in our republic, becoming the lynch mob's weapon of choice for denying African-Americans their inalienable rights. Liberty and freedom, repression and racism, these warring yet braided strands form the Gordian knot of the American experience: A land of visionary light entwined in the darkest recesses of human cruelty. Now comes Roger Wilkins like a modern-day Alexander to cut this knot." --J. Peder Zane, Raleigh News and Observer "Roger Wilkins is one of our most gifted social commentators. In Jefferson's Pillow, he explores with great eloquence and passion the ultimate contradiction of our society-between being a free American, a descendant of slavery, and the beneficiary of those who went before him." --David Halberstam, author of War in a Time of Peace, An extraordinarily thoughtful and illuminating meditation on American history. --Ira Berlin,The New York Times Book Review "We are obliged to judge because we are obliged to do better; to probe the flaws of our predecessors is to engage not in vindictive finger-pointing but to resist hubris and complacency in our own time. Wilkins' book has made a mirror of the past in which we glimpse our own shortcomings -and perhaps even the means for transcending them." --Philip Connors,In These Times "Wilkins makes a case for his opinions in sentences that enchant and inform. In its persuasive blend of logic and lyricism, Wilkins's language at its most potent is positively . . . Jeffersonian." --Jabari Asim,Washington Post Book World "With a sense of genuine curiosity Wilkins tried to avoid either condemning the founders too easily by modern standards or excusing too easily the contradictions of their slave ownership. Instead, by exploring the culture and atmosphere in which they grew up, he discovered how much slavery was an integral part of the Virginia society that enabled the founders to create the recipe for modern rights, equality and democracy." --Clarence Page,Chicago Tribune "Wilkins, who describes himself as a 'deeply committed American,' is never less than a patriot here; someone indifferent about America could not write such a thoughtful book. He demythologizes the Founding Fathers, yet expands their greatness by placing it within the context of the times, as well as their flawed humanity."--Boston Globe "When the Founding Fathers were deciding whether to risk their lives and fortunes for their ideals, Benjamin Franklin remarked: 'We must all indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately.' In the years after their bold gamble for freedom, the hangman's noose played a far darker role in our republic, becoming the lynch mob's weapon of choice for denying African-Americans their inalienable rights. Liberty and freedom, repression and racism, these warring yet braided strands form the Gordian knot of the American experience: A land of visionary light entwined in the darkest recesses of human cruelty. Now comes Roger Wilkins like a modern-day Alexander to cut this knot." --J. Peder Zane,Raleigh News and Observer "Roger Wilkins is one of our most gifted social commentators. InJefferson's Pillow,he explores with great eloquence and passion the ultimate contradiction of our society-between being a free American, a descendant of slavery, and the beneficiary of those who went before him." --David Halberstam, author ofWar in a Time of Peace
Lccn
2001-025117
Dewey Decimal
973/.09/9
Lc Classification Number
E302.5.W68
Copyright Date
2002
Item description from the seller
Business seller information
Thrift Books Global, LLC
TB Thrift Books
18300 Cascade Ave S
Ste 150
98188 Seattle, WA
United States
I certify that all my selling activities will comply with all EU laws and regulations.
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:373543699312
Postage and packaging
Item location:
Aurora, Illinois, United States
Posts to:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Western Samoa, Worldwide, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Excludes:
Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela
| Postage and packaging | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free postage | United States | Economy Shipping | Estimated between Thu, 13 Jun and Sat, 15 Jun to 43230 |
| US $15.99 (approx EUR 14.79) | United States | Expedited Shipping | Estimated on or before Wed, 12 Jun to 43230 |
| Dispatch time |
|---|
| Will usually dispatch within 1 working day of receiving cleared payment. |
| Taxes |
|---|
| Seller charges sales tax in |
Sales tax for an item #373543699312
Sales tax for an item #373543699312
Seller collects sales tax/VAT for items dispatched to the following states:
| County | VAT rate |
|---|---|
| Missouri (MO) | 8.238% |
Returns policy
| After receiving the item, cancel the purchase within | Refund will be given as | Return postage |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Money back | Seller pays for return postage |
The seller is responsible for return postage costs.
| Return policy details |
|---|
| Returns accepted |
Most Buy It Now purchases are protected by the Consumer Rights Directive, which allow you to cancel the purchase within seven working days from the day you receive the item. Find out more about your rights as a buyer and exceptions.
Payment details
Payment methods
Registered as a business seller
Seller Feedback (5,211,180)
l***3 (1549)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Great book!
n***o (295)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Books were in good condition and delivery was quite quick!
w***9 (639)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Great seller
More to explore:
- Thomas Jefferson Audio Books,
- Thomas Jefferson Hardcover Books,
- Thomas Jefferson Antiquarian & Collectable Books,
- Thomas Jefferson Dictionaries & Reference Books,
- Thomas Jefferson Fiction Fiction & Books,
- Thomas Jefferson & Young Adults' Books for Children,
- T. Jefferson Parker Fiction Fiction & Books,
- Thomas Jefferson Fiction & Fiction Books in English,
- Thomas Jefferson Fiction & History Non-Fiction Books,
- Thomas Jefferson Politics & Society Fiction & Non-Fiction Books