Black Judas: William Hannibal Thomas and The American NegroWilliam Hannibal Thomas (1843 1935) served with distinction in the U. S. Colored Troops in the Civil War (in which he lost an arm) and was a preacher, teacher, lawyer, state legislator, and journalist following Appomattox. In many publications up through the 1890s, Thomas espoused a critical though optimistic black nationalist ideology. After his mid twenties, however, Thomas began exhibiting a self destructive personality, one that kept him in