Dr Catherine Armstrong publishes new book on American Slavery and Imperialism

How did the U.S. deal with the paradox of presenting itself as a global power which abhorred slavery, while at the same time failing to deal with forced labour at home? Catherine Armstrong argues that this was done with rhetorical manoeuvres around the definition of slavery.

Dr Catherine Armstrong has published a new book American Slavery, American Imperialism: US Perceptions of Global Servitude 1870-1914 (Cambridge University Press). The book looks at the ways that the US presented itself as a global power which abhorred slavery at the same time as failing to deal with forced labour at home. This was achieved using rhetorical manoeuvres around the definition of slavery, which had significant ramifications for both historical and contemporary slavery.