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Norvel Blair, b. 1825
Book for the People! To Be Read by All Voters, Black and White, with Thrilling Events of the Life of Norvel Blair, of Grundy County, State of Illinois. Written and Published by Him, and with the Money He Earned by His Own Labor, and Is Sent Out with the Sincere Hope that if Carefully Read, It Will Tend to Put a Stop to Northern Bull-Dozing and Will Give to All a Free Ballot, without Fear, Favor or Affection and Respect
Joliet, IL: Joliet Daily Record, 1880.

Summary

Norvel Blair was born in Tennessee in 1825 and lived in Tennessee, Arkansas, and St. Louis, Missouri before settling with his family in Grundy County, Illinois in 1863. His primary aim in publishing Book for the People! (1880) was to reveal the various ways he and his family had been cheated and betrayed by White members of the Republican Party, arguing that they were not as sympathetic to African-Americans as they claimed to be. Blair cautions other Blacks to learn from his experience and not trust members of the Republican Party.

Monique Prince

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