Books > History > American history
|
Buy Now
Redemption Songs - Suing for Freedom before Dred Scott (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R1,043
Discovery Miles 10 430
|
|
Redemption Songs - Suing for Freedom before Dred Scott (Hardcover)
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
|
The Dred Scott case is the most notorious example of slaves suing
for freedom. Most examinations of the case focus on its notorious
verdict, and the repercussions that the decision set off-especially
the worsening of the sectional crisis that would eventually lead to
the Civil War-were extreme. In conventional assessment, a slave
losing a lawsuit against his master seems unremarkable. But in
fact, that case was just one of many freedom suits brought by
slaves in the antebellum period; an example of slaves working
within the confines of the U.S. legal system (and defying their
masters in the process) in an attempt to win the ultimate prize:
their freedom. And until Dred Scott, the St. Louis courts adhered
to the rule of law to serve justice by recognizing the legal rights
of the least well-off.
For over a decade, legal scholar Lea VanderVelde has been building
and examining a collection of more than 300 newly discovered
freedom suits in St. Louis. In Redemption Songs, VanderVelde
describes twelve of these never-before analyzed cases in close
detail. Through these remarkable accounts, she takes readers beyond
the narrative of the Dred Scott case to weave a diverse tapestry of
freedom suits and slave lives on the frontier. By grounding this
research in St. Louis, a city defined by the Antebellum frontier,
VanderVelde reveals the unique circumstances surrounding the
institution of slavery in westward expansion. Her investigation
shows the enormous degree of variation among the individual
litigants in the lives that lead to their decision to file suit for
freedom. Although Dred Scott's loss is the most widely remembered,
over 100 of the 300 St. Louis cases that went to court resulted in
the plaintiff's emancipation.
Beyond the successful outcomes, the very existence of these freedom
suits helped to reshape the parameters of American slavery in the
nation's expansion. Thanks to VanderVelde's thorough and original
research, we can hear for the first time the vivid stories of a
seemingly powerless group who chose to use a legal system that was
so often arrayed against them in their fight for freedom from
slavery.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.