In the Shadow of Freedom : The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital

by Finkelman, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780821419342
• ISBN10: 082141934X
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780821443491
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-03
• Publisher: Ohio Univ Pr

Summary

Few images of early America were more striking, and jarring, than that of slaves in the capital city of the worldrs"s most important free republic. Black slaves served and sustained the legislators, bureaucrats, jurists, cabinet officials, military leaders, and even the presidents who lived and worked there. While slaves quietly kept the nationrs"s capital running smoothly, lawmakers debated the place of slavery in the nation, the status of slavery in the territories newly acquired from Mexico, and even the legality of the slave trade in itself.In the Shadow of Freedom, with essays by some of the most distinguished historians in the nation, explores the twin issues of how slavery made life possible in the District and how lawmakers in the District regulated slavery in the nation.

Author Biography

Paul Finkelman is President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy and Senior Fellow in the Government Law Center at Albany Law School. He is the author or editor of many articles and books, including Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson (2001), A March of Liberty: A Constitutional History of the United States (2002), The History of Michigan Law (2006).

Donald R. Kennon is chief historian of the United States Capitol Historical Society. He is coeditor of the Ohio University Press series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789–1801 and editor of the series Perspectives on the Art and Architectural History of the United States Capitol.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Slavery in the Shadow of Liberty: The Problem of Slavery in Congress and the Nation's Capital	p. 3
Congress and Slavery in Context
The Impact of British Abolitionism on American Sectionalism	p. 19
Christian Statesmanship, Codes of Honor, and Congressional Violence: The Antislavery Travails and Triumphs of Joshua Giddings	p. 36
Gamaliel Bailey, Antislavery Journalist and Lobbyist	p. 58
Saturday Nights at the Baileys': Building an Antislavery Movement in Congress, 1838-1854	p. 83
ôA nest of rattlesnakes let loose among themö: Congressional Debates over Women's Antislavery Petitions, 1835-1845	p. 97
Debating Slavery by Proxy: The Texas Annexation Controversy	p. 125
The Politics of Slavery in the District of Columbia
The 1846 Retrocession of Alexandria: Protecting Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia	p. 141
ôWhether they be ours or no, they may be heirs of the kingdomö: The Pursuit of Family Ties among Enslaved People in the District of Columbia	p. 169
The 1848 Pearl Escape from Washington, D.C.: A Convergence of Opportunity, Motivation, and Political Action in the Nation's Capital	p. 195
Celebrating Emancipation and Contesting Freedom in Washington, D.C.	p. 220
Contributors	p. 239
Index	p. 241
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