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In the shadow of freedom : the politics of slavery in the national capital / edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon

Catalog Data

Author:
Finkelman, Paul 1949-  Search this
Kennon, Donald R. 1948-  Search this
United States Capitol Historical Society  Search this
Subject:
United States Congress History  Search this
Physical description:
viii, 248 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Type:
Congresses
Conference papers and proceedings
History
Place:
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Date:
2011
©2011
19th century
To 1878
Notes:
Papers from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society meeting held in 2006.
Contents:
Slavery in the shadow of liberty : the problem of slavery in Congress and the nation's capital / Paul Finkelman -- pt. 1. Congress and slavery in context -- The impact of British abolitionism on American sectionalism / David Brion Davis -- Christian statesmanship, codes of honor, and congressional violence : the antislavery travails and triumphs of Joshua Giddings / James B. Stewart -- Gamaliel Bailey, antislavery journalist and lobbyist / Stanley Harrold -- Saturday nights at the Baileys' : building an antislavery movement in Congress, 1838/1854 / Jonathan Earle -- "A nest of rattlesnakes let loose among them" : congressional debates over women's antislavery petitions, 1835/1845 / Susan Zaeske -- Debating slavery by proxy : the Texas annexation controversy / David Zarefsky -- pt. 2. 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 / A. Glenn Crothers -- "Whether they be ours or no, they may be heirs of the kingdom" : the pursuit of family ties among enslaved people in the District of Columbia / Mary Beth Corrigan -- The 1848 Pearl escape from Washington, D.C. : a convergence of opportunity, motivation, and political action in the nation's capital / Mary K. Ricks -- Celebrating emancipation and contesting freedom in Washington, D.C. / Mitch Kachun
Summary:
From the publisher. Few images of early America were more striking, and jarring, than that of slaves in the capital city of the world'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 nation'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.
Topic:
Slavery--History  Search this
Slavery--Political aspects--History  Search this
Antislavery movements--History  Search this
Slavery--Law and legislation--History  Search this
Race relations  Search this
History  Search this
Politics and government  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1060376