Captive''s Quest for Freedom - Fugitive Slaves, 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, Politics of Slavery

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.

List of contents

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.

About the author

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).

Summary

Re-examines the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, how the actions of fugitive slaves changed the face of the abolitionist movement, and the reactions of communities around them. The first book to explore the impact fugitive slaves had on the politics of what was the critical decade leading up to the Civil War.

Product details

• Authors: BLACKE RICHARD J. M, R. J. M. Blackett, R. J. M. (Vanderbilt University Blackett, Richard J. M. Blackett, Richard J. M. (Vanderbilt University Blackett
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2018
• EAN: 9781108407779
• ISBN: 978-1-108-40777-9
• No. of pages: 526
• Series: Slaveries Since Emancipation; Slaveries since Emancipation
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, c 1500 onwards to present day, Legal History, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Slavery & abolition of slavery, History and Archaeology, Specific wars and campaigns, Slavery and abolition of slavery, HISTORY / African American & Black, c 1860 to c 1869, Civil wars, American Civil War