Pennsylvania Hall: A Legal Lynching by Beverly C. Tomek
Pennsylvania Hall: A ‘Legal Lynching’ in the Shadow of the Liberty Bell offers a breath-taking account of one of the most saddening anti-abolition and anti-black riots that took place in the US.
The book, Pennsylvania Hall provides a detailed explanation of the difficulties that came about during the American antislavery and also gives an account of how the society struggles to reform itself even after experiencing separation. Pennsylvania Hall, being a part of the Critical Historical Encounters series, lays emphasis on the differences between the slow as well as sudden separation and the challenges of the policy of slavery which seeks immediate abolition of it. Author Beverly C. Tomek describes the paths that the Garrisonian branch of the movement undertook and how it effectively used the help of the press in order to give shape to the modern as well as ancient sources of describing the event. Tomek attempts to elaborate how Pennsylvania stood firm towards the cause of abolition of ruthless slavery. This is the reason why Pennsylvania is also known as the birthplace of the American Antislavery Movement. The book provides the details to how difficult the movement was and also mentions the obstacles that were presented in front of the leaders supporting the movement.
The most important strength of the book is that it provides an in-depth study of the struggles, events and achievements of the Anti-Slavery Movement in the United States of America as well as is easy and understandable for class room study and analysis. However, the book allows no creativity for students. This means that students shall be thorough with the events before explaining them because all of the contents of the book are facts.
Beverly C. Tomek has done a wonderful work in writing the book because it provides people with knowledge about the slavery that prevailed during the times and the hard times the Non-White population of America faced. It is an overwhelming book and I would recommend everyone to read this book especially the youth of the world and especially of America as they would get some idea and knowledge about how their ancestors struggled to bring about change in the society. The movement truly is an inspiration.
