History of the American Negro in the Great World War

William Allison SweeneyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9
Word count
673K words
Chapters
68

Tags

English Originals World HistoryMilitary Historical ReappraisalCivil Rights MovementRacial IssuesGroup BiographyHeroismCivic AwarenessPatriotismSocial CritiqueDocumentary NarrativeSocial Observation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.History of the American Negro in the Great World War by William Allison SweeneyAuthor: Sweeney, William Allison, 1851-,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Aug 26, 2005

Editor's review

Written by William Allison Sweeney, this book recounts the experiences and contributions of African Americans in World War I and belongs to the field of world history as a primary historical narrative. Its value lies in preserving extensive records of African American participation in the war, military service, home-front support, and social conditions, offering concrete material for understanding early twentieth-century American race relations and military history. The writing bears clear marks of its era and the author's stance, leaning toward chronicle and celebration rather than the dispassionate analysis of modern scholarship. Readers can see both the wartime experiences of African American soldiers and the framework through which that history was understood at the time. It should be read with attention to its date of composition and the author's perspective, as a source document to be compared with later research rather than taken as settled judgment. For readers interested in World War I history, American racial history, and African American history, it is an old but valuable reference work.

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Reading tips

  1. First learn the date of composition and the author's background, and read the narrative with a critical awareness of its source nature.
  2. Read alongside later studies of the African American experience in World War I.
  3. Read selectively by chapter theme, prioritizing records of units and events relevant to your research questions.
  4. In the English original, note names, unit designations, and place names, and keep notes for verification.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68

FAQ

What are the characteristics of this book's research perspective? The book was written early and carries the stance and celebratory tone of its time, focusing on recording African American participation and contributions in World War I. Its narrative is chronicle-like, differing from the analytical framework of contemporary scholarship; readers should note its historical limitations.
Does the book include systematic annotations and references? As an early public-domain historical work, its annotation and reference conventions are not as complete as those of modern academic monographs. For research use, verify the relevant facts independently and consult later scholars' compilations and research.
Can non-specialist readers read this book? Yes, but it requires patience. The book is long, densely narrated, and in English; general readers lacking background knowledge of World War I or African American history will find it challenging, so supplementing with general historical knowledge first is advisable.
What is the relationship between this book and Project Gutenberg? This book is one of the free public-domain e-books released by Project Gutenberg. The platform was founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and is dedicated to producing and distributing e-books; this book is one of the English historical documents it includes.

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About the author

William Allison Sweeney Author · American · 1851

William Allison Sweeney (born 1851) was an American writer. Public information about his life and education is limited, and his early years and career are poorly documented. His representative work is History of the American Negro in the Great World War, which records the wartime experiences and social circumstances of African Americans during World War I. It is a work of historical documentary writing that combines compiled sources with narrative, offering useful material for the study of African American military service and social roles at the time. Sweeney's writing focuses on organizing historical facts and presenting collective experience in plain language. One of his works is held in this collection, and details of his life remain to be further researched.