In late-nineteenth-century Boston, battles over black party loyalty were fights over the place of African Americans in the post-Civil War nation. In his fresh in-depth study of black partisanship and politics, Millington Bergeson-Lockwood demonstrates that party politics became the terrain upon which black Bostonians tested the promise of equality in America's democracy.

In late-nineteenth-century Boston, battles over black party loyalty were fights over the place of African Americans in the post-Civil War nation. In his fresh in-depth study of black partisanship and politics, Millington Bergeson-Lockwood demonstrates that party politics became the terrain upon which black Bostonians tested the promise of equality in America's democracy.