- Description
- 1 online resource (viii, 337 p.) : ill.
- Summary
- Studies lawsuits to gain freedom for slaves on the grounds of their having traveled to free territory, starting with Somerset v. Stewart (England, 1772), Commonwealth v. Aves (Massachussetts, 1836), Dred Scott v. Sanford, and cases brought questioning the legitimacy of Negro Seamen Acts in the antebellum coastal South. These lawsuits and accounts of them are compared to fugitive slave narratives to shed light on both. The differing impact of freedom obtained from such suits for men and women (women could claim that their children were free, once they were judged free) is examined.
- Series Statement
- America and the long 19th century
- Uniform Title
- Neither fugitive nor free (Online)
- America and the long 19th century.
- Alternative Title
- Neither fugitive nor free (Online)
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Access (note)
- Access restricted to authorized users.
- Contents
- Introduction: traveling slaves and the geopolitics of freedom -- Emancipation after "the Laws of Englishmen" -- Choosing kin in antislavery literature and law -- Gender of freedom before Dred Scott -- Crime of color in the Negro Seaman Acts -- Conclusion: fictions of free travel.
- LCCN
- 2009001473
- OCLC
- ssj0000607488
- Author
Wong, Edlie L.
- Title
Neither fugitive nor free [electronic resource] : Atlantic slavery, freedom suits, and the legal culture of travel / Edlie L. Wong.
- Imprint
New York : New York University Press, c2009.
- Series
America and the long 19th century
America and the long 19th century.
- Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Access
Access restricted to authorized users.
- Connect to: