Sweeping in scope, Appealing for Liberty gives voice to the enslaved African Americans who appealed their freedom in court, drawing from more than two thousand suits and the testimony of more than four thousand plaintiffs from the Revolutionary Era to the Civil War. Through the petitions, evidence, and testimony introduced in these court proceedings, the lives of the enslaved come sharply and poignantly into focus, as do many other aspects of southernsociety.

• Acknowledgments


• Introduction


• 1. African American Women and the Genealogy of Slavery


• 2. Slave Plaintiffs and the Law


• 3. Slave Plaintiffs and the Courts


• 4. Manumission by Wills and Deeds


• 5. Term Slaves


• 6. Descendants of Free Women


• 7. The Question of Residency


• 8. A Journey toward Freedom


• 9. Runaways


• 10. Husbands and Wives


• 11. Mothers and Children


• 12. Lawyers and Their Slave Clients


• 13. The Vass Slaves of Virginia, 1831-1860


• Conclusion


• Appendix: A Brief Profile of Freedom Suits and Results


• Abbreviations and Note on Sources


• Notes


• Selected Bibliography

Loren Schweninger is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where he taught for forty years. He was Director of the Race and Slavery Petitions Project from 1991-2009, creating the Digital Library on American Slavery during his tenure, and is the author of numerous books, including the Lincoln-prize winning Runaway Slaves: Rebels in the Plantations (2010).