The Character of Freedom

"The influence of eighteenth-century Scottish moral philosophers (Francis Hutcheson, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and others) on Americans is well known, and that they frequently theorized about slavery. No one, however, has done what Gideon Mailer brilliantly achieves in this book by examining connections between these philosophers (or those they influenced, many of them Presbyterians with evangelical convictions) and their stances on slavery. Differing personal contexts for the leading philosophers themselves, white Scottish Americans in Philadelphia and Princeton, and a surprising number of articulate Black Presbyterians meant that ‘malleable philosophical ideas’ could be exploited to attack slavery, excuse it, or stake out positions in between. The book is comparative, intellectual, religious, and cultural history at its best."—Mark Noll, author of America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794–1911

"In The Character of Freedom, Gideon Mailer takes up one of the biggest historical questions of our moment: did the Enlightenment ultimately contribute to the rise of abolitionism or help justify chattel slavery in the New World? His original answer draws us deep into eighteenth-century Scottish thought and then shows us the mutability of ideas, especially in the hands of Black Presbyterians whom Mailer effectively restores to intellectual history."—Sophia Rosenfeld, author of The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life

"This is a work of immense richness and subtlety, tracing the largely unrealized potential of a Scottish language of universal ethical sensibility and the various compromises, silences and evasions which substantially qualified its impact on white discourse around American slavery. By a further irony, Mailer recognizes how Scots Calvinist ideas of total human depravity offered an alternative rationale for liberty. However, it was only among Black American Presbyterians that ideology aligned uncomplicatedly with material interests."—Colin Kidd, editor and translator of Volney: The Ruins and Catechism of Natural Law

"From Scottish lecture halls to Virginia plantations and beyond, The Character of Freedom traces how religious responses to the Scottish Enlightenment crossed the Atlantic and shaped American responses to slavery. Gideon Mailer offers essential insights into both the history of abolitionism and the very intellectual roots of American liberty."—Ben Wright, author of Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism

"In this wide-ranging and incisive book, Gideon Mailer illuminates the critical importance of the Scottish Atlantic in global battles over slavery and freedom during the Age of Abolition. From the classic figures of the Scottish Enlightenment whose work became central to rising antislavery struggles to Black runaways who made ramifying freedom claims in Scottish courts, The Character of Freedom makes a compelling case for Scotland as a foundational part of Atlantic abolition. Deeply researched and full of compelling insights on race, religion and trans-Atlantic reform, Mailer’s text is essential reading for anyone interested in the rise of the antislavery movement in the 18th and 19th century world."—Richard S. Newman, author of Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction

"Gideon Mailer’s The Character of Freedom offers a compelling and original examination of how Scottish Enlightenment thought shaped early American debates over slavery and freedom. His transatlantic perspective and the meticulous attention he pays to both black and white Presbyterians illuminate the profound tensions between moral philosophy and bondage. It is an indispensable contribution to intellectual history and the origins of abolitionist thought."—Judith Ridner, Mississippi State University, author of The Scots Irish of Early Pennsylvania: A Varied People