1300 187 187
From the beginning of French rule of Missouri in 1720 through this state's abolition of slavery in 1865, liberty was always the goal of the vast majority of its enslaved people. The presence in eastern Kansas of a host of abolitionists from New England made slaveholding risky business. Mennonites and Quakers had voiced their detestation of human bondage long before the United States existed. A number of devout persons served time in the Missouri state penitentiary for "slave stealing." Based largely on old newspaper columns, prison records, pardon papers and other archival materials, this book is an account of the legal and physical obstacles that slaves faced in their quest for freedom and of the consequences suffered by persons who tried to help them. Chapter 1 looks at the widely held belief in slaves states that African Americans thoroughly enjoyed being owned and that they only left their owners because they were enticed by abolitionists. Chapter 2 is an overview of attitudes toward slavery in early American abolitionist writings, the institution's protection in both the Articles of Confederation and the US Consititution. Several chapters discuss the experiences of particular individuals such as Elizabeth Keckly, a former slave and seamstress who became Mary Todd Lincoln's best friend after President Lincoln's assassination. Other chapters examine the Missouri Underground Railroad. Four appendices provide details from two Spanish census reports from this time period, a list of abolitionist prison inmates with details about their time served, and a report from the US Department of Commerce depicting the percentages of African Americans still enslaved in 16 slave states from 1820 to 1860.
| Acknowledgments | p. vii |
| Preface | p. 1 |
| The Myth of the Contented Slave | p. 5 |
| The Background of Slavery in Missouri | p. 23 |
| Legal Freedom: Winners and Losers | p. 42 |
| Free Negroes and Mulattoes | p. 62 |
| Runaways | p. 87 |
| Slave John Anderson and Canadian-English Justice | p. 106 |
| Abolitionist Prison Inmates | p. 124 |
| Missouri's Western Front | p. 141 |
| "The Excitement on It Continues" | p. 152 |
| The Underground Railroad on Missouri's Borders | p. 168 |
| 1771 Spanish Census of Missouri | p. 181 |
| 1794-95 Spanish Census of Missouri | p. 182 |
| Missouri's Slave-Stealer (Abolitionist) Prison Inmates, 1838-1864 | p. 183 |
| Slave Population as a Percentage of Total Population in American Slaveholding Jurisdictions, 1820-1860 | p. 185 |
| Abbreviations | p. 186 |
| Chapter Notes | p. 187 |
| Bibliography | p. 201 |
| Index | p. 211 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780786418299
ISBN-10: 078641829X
Audience:
Tertiary; University or College
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 240
Published: 1st June 2004
Dimensions (cm): 26.1 x 18.3
x 1.9
Weight (kg): 0.567
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