The End of Days: African American Religion and Politics in the Age of Emancipation By Matthew Harper

Abstract

In The End of Days, Matthew Harper explores how Christian theology informed African American political and economic strategies after emancipation. Specifically, Harper examines how the Christian eschatology of hope fashioned African Americans’ conversations and thinking about their post-emancipative oppressive reality. Drawing on evidence gathered from African American Protestant leaders and laypersons in North Carolina during the nineteenth century, The End of Days sheds light on how African Americans assessed their post-emancipation experiences “as part of both human history and divine history” (p. 151). “Christian hope” gave African Americans a frame for understanding and transcending their turmoil. In essence, The End of Days offers us a richly detailed exploration of the importance of African Americans’ religious thought in defining and defending their freedom following emancipation.