The Captive's Quest for Freedom

Fugitive Slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, and the Politics of Slavery

AvR. J. M. Blackett

Inbunden, Engelska, 2018

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Beskrivning

This magisterial study, ten years in the making by one of the field's most distinguished historians, will be the first to explore the impact fugitive slaves had on the politics of the critical decade leading up to the Civil War. Through the close reading of diverse sources ranging from government documents to personal accounts, Richard J. M. Blackett traces the decisions of slaves to escape, the actions of those who assisted them, the many ways black communities responded to the capture of fugitive slaves, and how local laws either buttressed or undermined enforcement of the federal law. Every effort to enforce the law in northern communities produced levels of subversion that generated national debate so much so that, on the eve of secession, many in the South, looking back on the decade, could argue that the law had been effectively subverted by those individuals and states who assisted fleeing slaves.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2018-01-25
Mått:157 x 236 x 33 mm
Vikt:830 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Slaveries since Emancipation
Antal sidor:526
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781108418713

Utforska kategorier

Slaveri inom Historia och arkeologi
Amerikas historia inom Historia och arkeologi
Rättshistoria inom Juridik

Mer om författaren

Richard J. M. Blackett is the Andrew Jackson Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. He is past President of the Association of Caribbean Historians, Associated Editor and Acting Editor of the Journal of American History, and editor of the Indiana Magazine of History. He is the author of several books, including Building an Antislavery Wall: Black Americans in the Atlantic Abolitionist Movement, 1830-1860 (2002), Divided Hearts: Britain and the American Civil War (2000), and Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery (2013).

Recensioner i media

'Ranging from the halls of Congress to slave and free black communities and from Missouri to New England, Richard J. M. Blackett has produced the most comprehensive account of the workings of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and opposition to it. The individual stories are compelling, the research impressive, and the insights about the variety of forms of resistance make this a major contribution to our understanding of the road to civil war.' Eric Foner, Columbia University, New York and author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery

Innehållsförteckning

Part I. The Slave Power Asserts Its Rights: 1. The fugitive slave law; 2. The law does its work; 3. Compromise and colonize; Part II. Freedom's Fires Burn: 4. Missouri and Illinois; 5. Western Kentucky and Indiana; 6. Eastern Kentucky and Ohio; 7. Southeast Pennsylvania; 8. Eastern shore of Maryland and Philadelphia; 9. New York; 10. Massachusetts; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.