In the Shadow of Dred Scott: St. Louis Freedom Suits and the Legal Culture of Slavery in Antebellum America
- ISBN-10
- 0820345520
- ISBN-13
- 9780820345529
- Category
- Slaves
- Pages
- 288
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017
- Publisher
- University of Georgia Press
- Author
- Kelly Marie Kennington
Description
"The Dred Scott suit for freedom, argues Kelly M. Kennington, was merely the most famous example of a phenomenon that was more widespread in antebellum American jurisprudence than is generally recognized. The author draws on the case files of more than three hundred enslaved individuals who, like Dred Scott and his family, sued for freedom in the local legal arena of St. Louis. Her findings open new perspectives on the legal culture of slavery and the negotiated processes involved in freedom suits. As a gateway to the American West, a major port on both the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and a focal point in the rancorous national debate over slavery's expansion, St. Louis was an ideal place for enslaved individuals to challenge the legal systems and, by extension, the social systems that held them in forced servitude. Kennington offers an in-depth look at how daily interactions, webs of relationships, and arguments presented in court shaped and reshaped legal debates and public attitudes over slavery and freedom in St. Louis. Kennington also surveys more than eight hundred state supreme court freedom suits from around the United States to situate the St. Louis example in a broader context."--Back cover.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2017-04-15
- 310 pages
- Ebook
- University of Georgia Press
-
- 2017
- 288 pages
- Paperback
- University of Georgia Press
Similar books
-
The Emancipation Proclamation
By Karen Price HossellBooth had supported the South during the war . He hated Lincoln for freeing the slaves and for suggesting in a speech on April 11 that it might be a good idea to give some blacks the right to vote . . JOURNAL OF CIVILIZATION .
-
Secret of the Scribe: An Historical Novel for Engaging Thinkers
By Jennifer Johnson GarrityYoung slave girl serving a Sumerian queen risks an escape.
-
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Illustrated & Annotated
By Harriet Ann JacobsHarriet Ann Jacobs (February 11, 1813 - March 7, 1897) was an American writer, who escaped from the horrors of slavery and became an abolitionist speaker and reformer.
-
The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano
His autobiography, published in 1789, was a bestseller in its own time. Cameron has modernized and shortened it while remaining true to the spirit of the original. It's a gripping story of adventure, betrayal, cruelty, and courage.
-
The African: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
By Olaudah EquianoThe first book ever to be published by a black man,in Britain, this story of Equiano's life from,freedom in Africa through slavery and back to,freedom was a best-seller when first issued,in 1789.
-
The Blackbirder
By Lionel Webb, Robert MaguireThe Blackbirder
-
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself (Classic Reprint)
By Harriet A. JacobsAs Linda Brent, the book's heroine and narrator, Harriet Jacobs recounts the history of her family and recalls the degradation of slavery, especially the sexual oppression she experienced as a slave woman.
-
The Life of Harriet Tubman
By Emma LynchA biography of the woman who escaped life as a slave and then rescued other slaves as a conductor in the Underground Railroad.
-
Escape from Texas: A Novel of Slavery and the Texas War of Independence
By James W. Russell"Escape from Texas is the novel of James Robinson, a slave who dreams of freedom in the years leading up to the Texas War of Independence. Confronting his dream are planters who have other plans for Texas."--Back cover.
-
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (AmazonClassics Edition)
By Harriet Ann Jacobs"Harriet Jacobs's 1861 autobiography was the first written narrative by a female slave in America. Using the pseudonym Linda, Jacobs recounts the horrors of her life as a slave and a mother.