1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910459833103321

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Athens, : Published for the United States Capitol Historical Society by Ohio University Press, c2010

ISBN

0-8214-4349-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (257 p.)

Collana

Perspectives on the history of Congress, 1801-1877

Altri autori (Persone)

FinkelmanPaul <1949->

KennonDonald R. <1948->

Disciplina

305.8009753

Soggetti

Antislavery movements - Washington (D.C.) - History - 19th century

Slavery - Law and legislation - United States - History - 19th century

Slavery - Political aspects - Washington (D.C.) - History - 19th century

Slavery - Washington (D.C.) - History - 19th century

Electronic books.

Washington (D.C.) Politics and government To 1878 Congresses

Washington (D.C.) Race relations History 19th century Congresses

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Papers from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society meeting held in 2006.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.  This volume, with essays by some of the