Liberation Historiography: African American Writers and the Challenge of History, 1794-1861 - Paperbackby John Ernest (Author) As the story of the United States was recorded in pages written by white historians, early nineteenth century African American writers faced the task of piecing together a counterhistory: an approach to history that would present both the necessity of and the means for the liberation of the oppressed. In Liberation Historiography, John Ernest demonstrates that African Americans created a body of writing in which the spiritual,