Overview

Dred Scott and his landmark Supreme Court case are ingrained in the national memory, but he was just one of multitudes who appealed for their freedom in courtrooms across the country. Appealing for Liberty is the most comprehensive study to give voice to these African Americans, drawing from more than 2,000 suits and from the testimony of more than 4,000 plaintiffs from the Revolutionary era to the Civil War. Through the petitions, evidence, and testimony introduced in these court proceedings, the lives of the enslaved come sharply and poignantly into focus, as do many other aspects of southern society such as the efforts to preserve and re-unite black families. This book depicts in graphic terms, the pain, suffering, fears, and trepidations of the plaintiffs while discussing the legal systemDLlawyers, judges, juries, and testimonyDLthat made judgments on their ""causes,"" as the suits were often called. Arguments for freedom were diverse: slaves brought suits claiming they had been freed in wills and deeds, were born of free mothers, were descendants of free white women or Indian women; they charged that they were illegally imported to some states or were residents of the free states and territories. Those who testified on their behalf, usually against leaders of their communities, were generally white. So too were the lawyers who took these cases, many of them men of prominence, such as Francis Scott Key. More often than not, these men were slave owners themselves-- complicating our understanding of race relations in the antebellum period.A majority of the cases examined here were not appealed, nor did they create important judicial precedent. Indeed, most of the cases ended at the county, circuit, or district court level of various southern states. Yet the narratives of both those who gained their freedom and those who failed to do so, and the issues their suits raised, shed a bold and timely light on the history of race and liberty in the ""land of the free.""

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9780190664282

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Reviews

Overall, this is a seminal contribution to the profession, and much further work can and should be built upon this and the immense source and dataset provided by Schweninger and the RSPP. * Nicole Topich, H-Net Reviews * Appealing for Liberty is an important addition to the alrady existing books on the history of slavery in the United States. It is an amazing work of legal and historical scholarship that shines a light on the little-explored African American's legal struggle for freedom and the dark corners of our history. Appealing for Liberty is a meticulously researched work of scholarship that is possibly the best book on the subject. * Wash Book Review * Appealing for Liberty unearths strands of history and experience that might seem counterintuitive at first, but that make cear this book's novel contribution to the literature. * Harvard Law Review *

... the entire historical profession owes Schweninger an enormous debt. His remarkable efforts to find and share the freedom suits filed by thousands of black plaintiffs held in bondage across the United States have given scholars, students, and the general public alike an unparalleled resource that can help us all better understand the history of slavery and the law in this country. * Anne Twitty, Missouri Historical Review * Overall, this is a seminal contribution to the profession, and much further work can and should be built upon this and the immense source and dataset provided by Schweninger and the RSPP. * Nicole Topich, H-Net Reviews * Appealing for Liberty is an important addition to the alrady existing books on the history of slavery in the United States. It is an amazing work of legal and historical scholarship that shines a light on the little-explored African American's legal struggle for freedom and the dark corners of our history. Appealing for Liberty is a meticulously researched work of scholarship that is possibly the best book on the subject. * Wash Book Review * Appealing for Liberty unearths strands of history and experience that might seem counterintuitive at first, but that make cear this book's novel contribution to the literature. * Harvard Law Review * provides a detailed examination of slaves in the US South who used the courts to sue for their freedom. The work includes examples of the different kinds of approaches ... making sure slaves are viewed as the primary actors in their destiny, not just being used by white lawyers or abolitionists ... the numerous sources provided are invaluable to all scholars of slavery ... Recommended. * K. L. Gorman, CHOICE * a successful effort... [that] brings to great attention the complex intersection of slavery and the law * David H. Connolly Jr, Civil War Book review * a remarkable book. The sheer depth of research, both in terms of time and geography, provides confidence in its conclusions ... Appealing for Liberty should be read by those interested in American slavery and the workings of the antebellum southern legal system. * Jeremy T. Canipe, North Carolina Historical Review *

Overall, this is a seminal contribution to the profession, and much further work can and should be built upon this and the immense source and dataset provided by Schweninger and the RSPP. * Nicole Topich, H-Net Reviews * Appealing for Liberty is an important addition to the alrady existing books on the history of slavery in the United States. It is an amazing work of legal and historical scholarship that shines a light on the little-explored African American's legal struggle for freedom and the dark corners of our history. Appealing for Liberty is a meticulously researched work of scholarship that is possibly the best book on the subject. * Wash Book Review * Appealing for Liberty unearths strands of history and experience that might seem counterintuitive at first, but that make cear this book's novel contribution to the literature. * Harvard Law Review * provides a detailed examination of slaves in the US South who used the courts to sue for their freedom. The work includes examples of the different kinds of approaches ... making sure slaves are viewed as the primary actors in their destiny, not just being used by white lawyers or abolitionists ... the numerous sources provided are invaluable to all scholars of slavery ... Recommended. * K. L. Gorman, CHOICE *

Author Information

Loren Schweninger is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where he taught for forty years. He was Director of the Race and Slavery Petitions Project from 1991-2009, creating the Digital Library on American Slavery during his tenure, and is the author of numerous books, including the Lincoln-prize winning Runaway Slaves: Rebels in the Plantations (2010).

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