Synopses & Reviews
Few images of early America were more striking, and jarring, than that of slaves in the capital city of the worlds 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 nations 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.
Review
These articles succeed admirably in emphasizing the irony of slaverys centrality in what Finkelman terms the seat of power of the worlds most prominent democratic republic.”
Journal of American History
Review
This essay collection does a nice job of keeping its focus, and all of the essays work well together. It offers a comprehensive understanding of just why it matters that the capital of the United States was a slave city. It also includes a diversity of perspectivesfrom the political to the socialand clearly shows exactly how slavery cast a shadow over all regions of the nation and all Americans.”
H-CivWar
About the Author
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).