Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era) - Softcover

Blackett, R. J. M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1469636107 ISBN 13: 9781469636108

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2017

Synopsis

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, which mandated action to aid in the recovery of runaway slaves and denied fugitives legal rights if they were apprehended, quickly became a focal point in the debate over the future of slavery and the nature of the union. In Making Freedom, R. J. M. Blackett uses the experiences of escaped slaves and those who aided them to explore the inner workings of the Underground Railroad and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, while shedding light on the political effects of slave escape in southern states, border states, and the North.
Blackett highlights the lives of those who escaped, the impact of the fugitive slave cases, and the extent to which slaves planning to escape were aided by free blacks, fellow slaves, and outsiders who went south to entice them to escape. Using these stories of particular individuals, moments, and communities, Blackett shows how slave flight shaped national politics as the South witnessed slavery beginning to collapse and the North experienced a threat to its freedom.

About this title

Review

A readable and compelling narrative on slaves who sought freedom through the Underground Railroad.--Florida Historical Quarterly

This slender volume packs a powerful punch. R. J. M. Blackett selects compelling stories that convey the deep and extensive networks essential to the operation of the Underground Railroad, its corrosive effect on the slave system, and role in the ultimate demise of slavery.--Ohio Valley History

Gracefully written. . . . Clear and supported by evidence.--The North Carolina Historical Review

[A] riveting book.--Journal of Southern History

Blackett delivers many vivid accounts of escapes. . . as well as an illuminating discussion of slave catching and the organized kidnapping of free blacks.--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Employ[s] memorable microhistories that open[s] the door to . . . big interpretive questions.--Louisiana History

A must-read for all scholars of American slavery and the [Underground Railroad]--West Virginia History

Making Freedom is a well-written and informative volume that provides valuable insights into the thinking undergirding the actions of freedom seekers and their supporters.--Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

It deserves its place on the growing shelf of studies of the Underground Railroad.--The Annals of Iowa

Perceptively demonstrates that although marginalized, oppressed, and persecuted, formerly enslaved African Americans impacted 'the politics of scale' and determined the trajectory of the slavery debate in the United States.--Journal of African American History

About the Author

R. J. M. Blackett is Andrew Jackson Professor of History at Vanderbilt University and author of Divided Hearts: Britain and the American Civil War, among other books.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1469636107
• ISBN 13: 9781469636108
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 136