Claiming Exodus

Rhondda Robinson Thomas is Assistant Professor of English at Clemson University.

Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Introduction 1. Exodus and the Politics of Liberty (1774a1800) 2. Exodus as the Blueprint for Building Free Black Communities (1800a1840) 3. Exodus in the Era of Manifest Destiny (1840a1861) 4. Exodus, the Civil War, and Reconstruction (1861a1877) 5. African Americans in the Nadir (1877a1900) Afterword Notes Bibliography Credits Scripture Index General Index

"Thomas searches an impressively vast archive to discover how African-Americans wrestled with the entire Biblical saga of Israelite enslavement and emancipation as they staged their own movement towards self-determination. Importantly, she probes not only the moments when the Exodus saga uplifted and inspired but also when it failed to deliver. Claiming Exodus reminds us why religion matters profoundly to the way Americans imagine themselves out of narrow places." --Joanna Brooks, author of American Lazarus: Religion and the Rise of African-American and Native American Literatures and editor of Transatlantic Feminisms in the Age of Revolutions "The Exodus narrative has met with a long history of fascination and engagement in Black Christianity. Rhondda Thomas has delved into this intersection of race, slavery, and religion operating under the sign of freedom to compose an important contribution to the field of Africana religions." --Sylvester A. Johnson, Associate Professor of African American Studies and Religious Studies, Northwestern University and co-editor, Journal of Africana Religions Thomas's work is a compact study of the Exodus trope in the African American experience that will benefit general readers as well as undregraduate teachers and their students. -- Michael O. West, Binghampton University -- The Historian