Documenting the American South Logo  P. Thomas Stanford (Peter
Thomas) Boston, Mass.: Charles W. Wasto, 1897.   Stanford begins
The Tragedy of the Negro in America by distinguishing between
the authorized tragedy of black Americans, represented by
slavery, with the unauthorized tragedy of post-bellum injustice.
In discussing the authorized tragedy, Stanford describes the
first attempts at colonizing and Christianizing black
communities in the West Indies, and moves on to the first
importation of blacks into the American colonies. He condemns
the false Christianity that allowed slavery to continue and grow
throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Stanford acknowledges
the good deeds done by various religious sects (particularly the
Quakers) and praises the New England states for the restriction
or abolition of slavery. He also writes at length of John
Brown's abortive uprising at the US Armory in Harper's Ferry,
VA.  In describing the unauthorized tragedy, Stanford blames
Andrew Johnson for failing to control r