Slavery and the Founders : Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson

In This Third Edition Of Slavery And The Founders, Including A New Chapter On The Regulation And Eventual Banning Of The African Slave Trade, Paul Finkelman Confronts A Central Issue Of The American Founding: How The First Generation Of Leaders Of The United States Dealt With The Profoundly Important Question Of Human Bondage. The Book Explores The Tension Between The Professed Idea Of America As Stated In The Declaration Of Independence, And The Reality Of The Early American Republic, Reminding Us Of The Ways That Slavery Influenced The Writing Of The Constitution And The Development Of Early National Politics And Law. The Book Remains The Most Important Short Critique Of Thomas Jefferson's Relationship To Slavery, And Contrasts The Way Federalists And Jeffersonian Republicans Approached The Problem Of Slavery In The First Thirty Years After The Revolution--unedited Summary From Book Cover. Making A Covenant With Death : Slavery And The Constitutional Convention -- Slavery And The Northwest Ordinance, 1787 : A Study In Ambiguity -- Evading The Ordinance : The Persistence Of Bondage In Indiana And Illinois -- Implementing The Proslavery Constitution : The Adoption Of The Fugitive Slave Law Of 1793 -- Ending The African Slave Trade In The New Nation -- The Problem Of Slavery In The Age Of Federalism -- Treason Against The Hopes Of The World : Thomas Jefferson And Slavery -- Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, And Antislavery : Historians And Myths. Paul Finkelman. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 281-294) And Index. In Slavery and the Founders , Paul Finkelman addresses a central issue of the American founding: how the first generation of leaders of the United States dealt with the profoundly important question of human bondage. The book explores the tension between the professed idea of America as stated in the Declaration of Independence, and the reality of the early American republic, reminding us of the profound and disturbing ways that slavery affected the U.S. Constitution and early American politics. It also offers the most important and detailed short critique of Thomas Jefferson's relationship to slavery available, while at the same time contrasting his relationship to slavery with that of other founders. This third edition of Slavery and the Founders incorporates a new chapter on the regulation and eventual (1808) banning of the African slave trade. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Preface to the Third Edition 10 1. Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery and the Constitutional Convention 16 2. Slavery and the Northwest Ordinance, 1787: A Study in Ambiguity 59 3. Evading the Ordinance: The Persistence of Bondage in Indiana and Illinois 87 4. Implementing the Proslavery Constitution: The Adoption of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 115 5. Ending the African Slave Trade in the New Nation 146 6. The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Federalism 176 7. "Treason Against the Hopes of the World": Thomas Jefferson and Slavery 206 8. Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and Antislavery: Historians and Myths 250 Bibliography 294 Index 308 About the Author 322